Before Long
by Alex Beckett
Summary: The BAU is chosen to investigate a child-snatching ring in New York City that will really test Emily's and JJ's friendship, or maybe even strengthen it, but at what cost?
1. Emily And JJ

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for who (or what) I make up. I recently went through seasons 1-9 in a binge-watch because Netflix is my friend, but I haven't seen anything past that T_T this is also the first Criminal Minds fic I've done, so bear with me!**

**Keep in mind, this takes place in season 3, any time before the Jones episode.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><em>"Friends are the family you choose." —unknown<em>

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><p>Emily Prentiss was exhausted.<p>

She and her team had just finished a very harrowing case in Mobile, Alabama, involving a series of child abductions carried out by a delusional couple who had lost their young children in a car crash some months prior.

The children they'd abducted—three, in total—were found alive and in good health because crazy though their abductors had been, they'd still cared for them, desperate to be parents again.

Sunday and Jimmy were sister and brother, ages four and two. Upon the initial rescue, they'd bonded with Officer Vasquez, one of the local officers, because she'd reminded them of their mother. The youngest child had been a newborn baby girl, taken from her mother's shopping cart at the supermarket.

That baby was so tiny that she couldn't have been more than three weeks old, and Emily rode with her in the ambulance to the hospital for a check-up, never straying far from her side. The little one's name? Emily.

Agent Prentiss loved children, so holding baby Emily had been heaven for her, especially when she fell asleep in her arms after finishing her bottle, resting her little cheek against Emily's breast.

Having children had always been a major want of Emily's, but she had yet to find the right person to settle down with.

Emily wouldn't lie when she said that since joining the BAU eight months ago that JJ had been on her radar, but was off-limits for a variety of reasons, especially because she was already in a relationship, and with a man, to boot.

It had been awhile since Emily had been with a woman, but it had been even longer since she'd been with a man.

And Emily knew a lot about JJ now, but she'd always just assumed that JJ was into men, meaning that the two of them were just friends.

She could dream, couldn't she?

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><p>All that being said, Emily had decided to take matters into her own hands as far as childbearing went and tried the IVF route. JJ and Penelope were the only ones who knew about it, and they had been there for her when she had two miscarriages.<p>

Recently, though, she'd underwent a third round of treatment, and it hadn't been until their last day in Mobile when JJ and Penelope ganged up on her and forced her to take a pregnancy test after she'd spent the whole week feeling sick and making up excuses about it that she found out she was pregnant again.

Emily had been so busy with the Alabama case—and the one before that, which hadn't ended well—that the thought of a pregnancy hadn't occurred to her sooner, especially because of the miscarriages.

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><p>"Okay, baby bird," Emily looked down at her middle and ran a hand over the tiny bulge there. "Mama is finally home, and I'm wearing the comfy pajamas, too. What should we do? Make dinner and watch a movie?"<p>

The baby wasn't big enough to kick, of course, but Emily could feel the baby wiggling around inside her and it fascinated her. Taking her offspring's movements as a yes, Emily headed over to the kitchen where she had a freezer full of pre-cooked frozen meals.

As Emily was in the middle of deciding between taquitos and stir-fry, she heard her doorbell ring.

"That's odd." Emily closed the freezer and headed to her front door. "Nobody should know that I'm home yet."

Imagine her surprise when she saw JJ standing there, her go bag in one hand and tears in her eyes.

"JJ!" Emily gasped and immediately stepped aside to let her enter. "Come in, come in!"

The blond stepped inside and the second Emily closed the door, JJ leaned into her, crying. It broke Emily's heart to see JJ like this, but she hugged her and comforted her, bewildered all the while.

Eventually, JJ was calm enough to talk.

"Emily, I'm sorry." She sniffled, pulling away as she wiped her tears and set her bag aside. "I didn't mean to show up unannounced, especially because you need rest because of the baby and all, but I panicked and you live around the block…"

"It's okay, Jayje. It's over."

Emily brought her over to the couch and sat her down. Seeing that JJ was too upset to eat or drink anything just yet, Emily found one of her afghan blankets and draped it over her friend's shoulders before sitting with her.

"You know Daniel?" JJ asked her friend.

Daniel Sutherland was JJ's boyfriend.

"Mhm."

"I called him before we got off the jet to tell him that we were coming back, and he surprised me by waiting for me at my place."

"What happened? Was he happy to see you?"

"Yes and no."

Emily tilted her head to the side, confused. "I don't follow. If he waited for you and everything, then why wouldn't he be happy?"

"Dial back." JJ pleaded. "He was happy, and it lasted for about ten minutes before he really revealed why he was there."

"Which was…?"

"On the day we went to Mobile, I accidentally left out an empty box of pregnancy tests. Daniel found the box when he'd stopped by my apartment to collect a book he'd left there."

Emily heard what JJ said, but her heart was beating double time, hung up on one thing in particular. "JJ, _are_ you pregnant?"

She shook her head and sighed sadly. "I thought I was and took both of the tests in the box, but they were negative."

"Did you at least explain that to Daniel?"

"Yeah, but he got tunnel vision and freaked the hell out."

"What did he say?"

JJ thought for a moment. "It's kind of a blur now, but most of it was hurtful things about how he doesn't want kids or have time for them, being the CEO of a business in one of the big office buildings downtown."

"Did he hit you?"

"He tried, but I ducked and he ended up hitting the kitchen wall; that, I remember easily." JJ let out a shaky sigh. "The fight got worse, and now we're broken up. Daniel has a temper, and I'm a little worried about going home because I left before he did."

"Then stay with me tonight; I have a spare bed that's made up in my office."

JJ's heart just about jumped out of her chest and she wasn't sure why; she (and even Penelope) had crashed here before during movie nights, and other such things. This shouldn't have been making her heart do jumping jacks, and yet…

"Are you sure? I don't want to impose."

"Of course I'm sure, and you won't be imposing at all." Emily gave her a kind smile. "You brought your bag, didn't you?"

"I didn't even realize I'd brought it until after I left my apartment building. My clothes need washing."

"Perfect—so do mine; I'll do a load of our things while we eat something."

JJ blinked in surprise; it wasn't like Emily wasn't a fun person because she was, but knowing that she was pregnant now meant that everyone would be seeing a lot more of her maternal side, something that she usually saved for when she interacted with children.

She also knew that Emily Sandrine Prentiss was a force of nature to be reckoned with, and that when she got like this, it was best she just go along with her.

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><p>Before long, JJ was actually cheered up considerably. She still hurt considerable over her fight with Daniel, but Emily was being a really good friend and looking after her. It was making her feel wanted and loved.<p>

What really gave JJ butterflies was that they ended up camping out on Emily's bed while they ate together and watched a cheesy TV movie on the plasma TV that Emily had mounted on the wall directly across from the bed. JJ was also quick to notice that Emily's bed was really comfortable.

"Em?" JJ turned to the older woman as their movie went to a commercial break.

"Yes?" Emily looked JJ in the eyes.

"Thanks for letting me stay here tonight"

"Of course, Jayje. You're my friend, and I wanted to make you feel better because you were sad."

JJ grinned; she really cared about the woman beside her and probably always would. "That means a lot. Thank you again."

"You're very welcome."

Emily wanted so badly to kiss JJ because she was already adorable to begin with, but now, JJ was wearing a pair of borrowed pajamas and looked content, all things considered. She looked even more adorable.

But still, she restrained herself and gladly welcomed the buzz of the washing machine out in the hallway.

"I'm going to put our dirty dishes in the sink and change out the laundry, alright?"

"Okay." JJ yawned sleepily. "Hurry back…"

By the time Emily finished what she was doing and went back to her bedroom, JJ was fast asleep. She looked even more content than she had before and because of the rough night she'd had, Emily didn't have the heart to get her to move.

In the end, Emily turned off the TV and the lamp before crawling into bed with JJ. They were both exhausted.

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><p>Emily woke early, as she always did, and the first thing she remembered was JJ coming to her house in the night. She felt an unusual weight on her body, and when she looked to see what it was, her heart rose into her throat when she saw that in the night, JJ had not only snuggled up to her, but also wrapped her arms around her waist. Emily should have been freaked out because this was crossing all kinds of lines, but she couldn't deny: this felt right, and if JJ had fallen asleep the way she had, it had to feel right to her, too.<p>

I could stay like this forever, Emily thought as she absently stroked JJ's back.

Unfortunately, the universe had other plans for her because her phone buzzed with a mass text from Penelope to her and the rest of the team: _Rise and shine, family! Briefing room in one hour!_

Setting her phone back on the bedside table, Emily turned her attention to JJ.

"Time to wake up, JJ!" Emily patted her friend on the back. "Up you get!"

JJ swatted blindly at her, conscious, but not ready to open her eyes. "Five more minutes."

"No can do." Regretfully, Emily extracted herself out of JJ's hold and turned on the lamp. "I just got a text from Penelope; she wants us all in the briefing room in one hour."

JJ let out a moan of displeasure and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "What's the time?"

Emily turned on the TV and channel-surfed until she found a morning show; those always told the time. "According to _Good Morning, Quantico!_, it's 5:45."

"And you were _already_ awake?" JJ mumbled. "What the hell?"

Emily got out of bed and gave JJ's ankle a gentle squeeze. "Come on—you can have the first dibs on the shower while I make breakfast."

JJ just let out an unintelligible mumble—she was already falling back asleep.

"You brought this on yourself," was the only warning Emily gave JJ before she yanked the duvet off the bed completely.

JJ finally caved, opened her eyes and sat up. When she realized where she was, everything from the previous night had come back in a rush.

"Emily, this is _your_ bed," JJ then registered what she was wearing. "And these are _your_ pajamas."

Emily smirked, amused by how short-circuited JJ was in morning. "Very astute."

JJ rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Did anything weird happen? I remember coming here, but…"

She did remember starting to wake up when Emily began realizing the placement of her arms, but she wasn't ready to share that.

"Nothing happened, I promise!" Emily told her. "Now please hurry up—we _are_ under a time crunch!"

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><p>Emily and JJ arrived to the briefing room in a timely fashion, and Penelope, Derek, and Spencer were already there, but they were all nursing coffees, not quite awake, either. While Emily opted for mug of lemon tea, JJ made herself a cup of coffee before she and Emily sat in the empty chairs between Penelope and Spencer.<p>

"I feel incomplete without files to hand out." JJ murmured.

Emily looked around. "And where are Hotch and Rossi?"

"Tinker Bell, Gumdrop," Penelope told them. "Just drink your coffee and your tea—they'll be here soon."

The tech analyst's words were still hanging in the air when the two men in question entered, both looking more awake than the other five.

"Good morning," (Hotch was greeted by their yawns) "And I do apologize for getting all of you back here so soon, but we jut got handed a case that's going to go a little differently than what we usually do."

Spencer arched an eyebrow. "How different are we talking?"

"As in we don't have a choice," elaborated Rossi. "Because it's undercover and coming straight from the desk of Erin Strauss."

Everyone sat up a little straighter at the mention of that name. BAU Chief Erin Strauss was Hotch's boss. She was elusive, and they knew that she thought of Hotch's team as disorganized, but if she wanted them to do something like a special undercover case, then there was no room for messing up.

Especially on Emily's part, but that was another story.

"Now that I have everyone's attention, I'll begin."

Rossi turned on the monitors for the PowerPoint presentation he had prepared, and upon pressing one of the buttons on the remote, three pictures of happy, smiling babies appeared. Hotch handed files out to everyone as Rossi explained the situation.

"These are Ariel Alcott, Juliet Coolidge, and Milo Henderson, and from New York City." Rossi indicated each child as they appeared. "Each of them were taken in the last three weeks, while still en utero, meaning that they were born into captivity."

"How far along were the mothers?" Derek asked, looking up from his folder.

"Each between thirty-seven and forty weeks. This is them."

Rossi pressed the same button on the remote and three more pictures appeared, corresponding with the pictures of the babies.

"From left to right we have Zoe Alcott, Lorelei Coolidge, and Emma Henderson. Does anybody notice anything particular about them?"

"They're young—late twenties to early thirties," Emily remarked after a moment of observing the pictures of the smiling ladies. "And they're all blond. Has the unsub killed them?"

"Actually, no." Rossi pressed the button on the remote again, this time to show pictures of Zoe, Lorelei, and Emma looking scared and like they'd each taken a beating. "The unsub let them all go, but has elected to keep the children. Zoe, Lorelei, and Emma were found wandering together in the Inwood area of Manhattan yesterday afternoon."

"That's really saying something," Spencer commented. "Because the files are saying that Zoe and Lorelei are from West Village—but strangers before the abductions—and that Emma is from the area of the Meatpacking District closest to the West Village border. That's already a very tight hunting ground."

"How are they now?" Penelope asked. "Apart from getting hurt and separated from their darling babies?"

"Recovering in the hospital, but each too traumatized to talk about it." Hotch provided. "We know where the unsub is doing the snatching, but we don't know what he or she even looks like."

"Does anybody else get what this is leading up to, or at least what it sounds like?" Emily said suddenly. "This is probably _baby_ _trafficking!"_

"And because I fit the description of the unsub's preferences a little more to the t than Garcia does," JJ sighed. "This means they I'll be going undercover as an expectant mother, huh?"

Rossi shut off the monitor and set the remote down. "Yes, you are. Think you can handle it?"

"Yes, but will we have all of the proper… costume pieces and that sort of thing when we get to Manhattan?"

It was Penelope who answered this, immediately more awake. "Oh, yes, my friend. All of that is waiting for us in the jet, and we will be needing Emily's help with getting you set up when we land."

Had Emily not just swallowed a sip of her tea, she would've choked on it; a pregnant JJ, even if it was going to be a disguise? This was going to be seared into her brain for the rest of her days.

Spencer patted Emily on the arm. "You okay?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded and turned to Hotch. "How long until wheels up?"

"Twenty minutes. Let's get going."

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><p><strong>More?<strong>


	2. Your Song

**Wow! Thanks for all the reviews and the follows on just the first chapter; it made me so happy! xo**

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><p>Emily was the first on the jet, but that was unsurprising because she was almost always the first passenger aboard. Hotch and Rossi arrived not long after her, and as Emily sat after she stored her luggage, Hotch joined her for a minute.<p>

"Hello, sir." Emily greeted him, sensing that he was with her for more than casual chat. "What can I do for you?"

"I've noticed that you've been a little out of it lately. Everything okay?"

Emily laughed nervously. "A little topsy-turvy, but I'm happy. Just before we left Mobile yesterday, I found out that I'm pregnant. I've been trying for awhile to have a baby via IVF, and it finally worked. I just haven't had a chance to catch my breath yet."

"How far along are you?"

"Eight weeks." Without even thinking about it, Emily put a hand to her lower abdominal region, noticing for the first time that it was firm to the touch already. "JJ and Garcia are the only ones who know about this—besides you."

"I am a vault." Hotch promised before offering her a friendly smile as he stood. "And Emily?"

"Yes?"

"Congratulations."

"Thank you, sir."

He gave her a pat on the shoulder and went to catch up with Rossi.

The rest of the team boarded the jet soon thereafter and they spent the short ride to JFK Airport in Manhattan prepping a little more for the case, with what little they had to go on. Emily heard what was being said, but her mind was drifting.

Why?

Emily's mother, The Honorable Ambassador Elizabeth Roxane Prentiss, was currently home in Manhattan from one of her many postings abroad. The good ambassador actually lived in a room at The Plaza Hotel, part of her inheritance from her grandmother when she'd come of age, but that was another story. More to the point, though, Emily had grown up in that luxurious, historical hotel, and none of her friends knew. Emily Prentiss was not one to flaunt her wealth.

She was anxious to see her mother because Elizabeth knew full well that Emily was trying to have a baby, but with everything they had happened in the last twenty-four hours, Emily had yet to even call her. Elizabeth also knew—and accepted—full well how her daughter felt about JJ. All Emily wanted to do was go home to their suite at The Plaza and curl up with Elizabeth and talk about what was going on.

"Earth to Emily!"

"Hm? What?"

Emily, JJ, and Penelope were standing in front of their hotel room, number 208, and JJ and Penelope were watching her curiously.

"I _said,"_ Penelope repeated. "Where did you put the card key?"

"Oh! Right!"

Emily dug the card key out of her pocket and slid it into the card slot. When they heard the click, she opened the door for them.

"Here you go, ladies."

When they entered the room, Penelope claimed the bed by the window, but was a little taken aback to see how fast Emily and JJ were fine to be with sharing a bed.

"What?" They asked in unison at the sight of Penelope's cheeky grin.

"You two—not even friends, let alone in each other's lives—for a full year yet, and you're sharing a bed like it's nothing."

"Jayje spent the night at my apartment last night." Emily blurted before she could help herself.

"Emily Sandrine!" JJ protested._ "Really?"_

"Sorry." Emily mumbled.

"Yeah, uh-huh." came the wry answer.

Penelope arched an eyebrow. "I'm still waiting to hear about why JJ was there."

"You were going to find out at some point soon," JJ sighed. "So I'll just tell you now: Daniel took a swing at me, and after an exchange of unkind words, we've broken up."

"Oh, my God!"

"He missed me because I dodged him, but long story short: it was a misunderstanding because I thought I was pregnant, but I'm not. Daniel doesn't want kids and I do, but he got so angry with tunnel vision that I fled."

"And you went to Emily's because she lives around the block." Penelope said understandingly. "Are you okay?"

JJ shrugged. "I was going to break up with him soon because I think it was headed towards the path of destruction, so it's a blessing in disguise. I'm actually _more_ upset that I'm not pregnant."

Before Emily or Penelope could say anything to console her, there was a knock at the door and JJ practically leapt up to answer it; she really didn't want to talk about her love life—or lack thereof—anymore.

Derek was at the door. "Are you guys ready to go? Everyone is out in the hallway."

"Just give us a second, and we'll be ready."

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><p>Emily and her posse, along with Hotch, Rossi, Derek, and Spencer, all rode in the elevator together, nobody saying much of anything because they were all busy mentally preparing for the level of emotional draining this case had in store for them.<p>

Seeing as this case wasn't like they were accustomed to, Emily and the others really followed Hotch and Rossi's lead when they got to the precinct, gathered around them like a group of guilty schoolchildren.

An important-looking man, dressed like a paper-pusher more than anything else, approached Hotch first with a hand extended.

"Hello, my name is Captain Sebastian Bishop. You must be Agent Hotchner from the Behavior Analysis Unit at the FBI?"

"Yes." Hotch nodded and indicated the rest of the team as he made introductions. "This is FBI Special Agent David Rossi and our Supervisory Special Agents Derek Morgan and Emily Prentiss, Doctor Spencer Reid, our tech analyst Penelope Garcia, and our Communications Liaison, Jennifer Jareau."

"Very good to meet all of you." Bishop said in way of a blanket greeting before approaching JJ closer. "You're the one who is going to go undercover?"

JJ nodded. "Yes, I am. Is there somewhere that I can get ready?"

"Right this way." Bishop beckoned to her. "Follow me."

JJ, Emily, and Penelope followed Bishop to a small room on the second floor, complete with a bench and rack to hang things from.

"We have some changing rooms up here for different occasions," Bishop explained. "But you all can have this one because it's empty."

"Thank you, sir." JJ said. "We will be down soon."

JJ, Emily, and Penelope fit into the dressing room, but there wasn't much room to move in excess without accidentally stepping on toes.

"Okay," Emily said as she locked the door behind her. "So what do we do now?"

"Feast your eyes on this, my lovelies."

Penelope had hung up the garment bag she was carrying and was now lifting something out of the box that she'd also been carrying.

"This is JJ's baby."

Penelope was holding a large prosthetic belly up for them to see. If Emily had to wager a guess, the actual bump was made of latex, but the whole thing was covered in very sturdy nylon and had an area in the back—also made of nylon—that included a strong zipper for easy access.

"Jayje," Penelope addressed the other blond. "Are you wearing a tank top under your shirt?"

"Yes."

"Take it off."

JJ turned beet-red at Penelope's bluntness while Emily snickered.

"You heard the Bespectacled One." Emily remarked. "Take off your shirt."

JJ did as she was told but because Emily had been a smart ass, the communications liaison threw her shirt at her dark-haired beauty. Emily was immediately hit with JJ's trademark scent of orange and vanilla scent, just as she had been in bed that morning, and she loved it.

For a second, Emily wondered what it would be like if she got hooked on JJ's smell. How primal would that be? _Very._

Before the other two could tease her for holding onto JJ's things for too long, Emily put the shirt beside the box on the bench, only to then look at JJ and see that while she had a nicely toned body, her tank top hugged her curves in a way that left nothing to the imagination.

JJ caught her looking. "My eyes are up here, Emmy-cat! See something you like?"

Penelope couldn't resist getting her two cents in, and tacked on in a sing-song voice, "Emily's hot for JJ!"

"Penelope Esmée Rose," Emily said in a tone ripe with fair warning as she glared at her. "Don't you _dare—"_

Penelope smirked. "Middle naming me, huh? Practicing your mommy skills alre—"

JJ clapped her hands together. "Children, focus and help me get this thing on already!"

The other two got over themselves and were soon getting down to business.

"This feels weird on so many levels." JJ remarked a few minutes later as she tied up her long silky hair in a bun and cradled her pseudo-belly in her hands as Penelope squatted on the floor behind her, working on the zipper while Emily held the back closed to give her some leeway. "It's almost like this is my wedding day, and you two are helping me into my dress."

"Except instead of a dress," Emily came around to face JJ when Penelope got better control of the zipper. "It's a baby."

"Bingo."

"Okay, I finally got it all zipped up," said Penelope as she stood and came to stand with Emily. "Which means that we need to see how JJ's frame handles the weight, and Emily?"

"Yes, Penelope?"

"As adorable as you and JJ have suddenly become, I need you to let go of her hands."

Subconciously, Emily had touched her hands to JJ's, wanting to help her support the sudden extra weight she'd just gained.

"Right." Emily pulled away, embarrassed that she was that transparent. "Jayje, how is it?"

"Like I swallowed a watermelon. How much does this weigh?"

"Seven pounds, five ounces." Penelope reported.

"Oh, my God." JJ immediately put her hands in the small of her back to offset the weight because she was already feeling it. "I hope that none of my future babies make me ache like this."

"I—"

_DING!_

Penelope's answer was cut off by a new text. She checked her phone and then looked back at the women she loved like sisters.

"Boy Wonder is requesting my help. Can you two handle the rest of this by yourselves?"

"If that's your way of asking us not to jump each other's bones the second you leave," JJ sassed. "Then yes, we can handle it! Now go see what Spencer wants!"

Penelope left and JJ locked the door behind her before turning to face Emily, trying to carefully control her breathing so she didn't pass out as she got the courage to carry out what she was thinking of now.

"JJ?" Emily asked tentatively. "What is it?"

"There is an important thing I need to do right now, and I put it off any longer, then I'll _never_ do it and will _totally_ regret it."

"Okay…?"

In one swift move, JJ crossed the small space and pulled Emily in by the collar of her jacket so that they were inches apart, looking into each other's eyes. And then, before Emily could even blink, JJ was kissing her.

Deeply.


	3. Kiss Me Hard Before You Go

**I am on a roll… keep those reviews coming in!**

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><p>Emily's brain almost shut down as she processed what was going on, but she gained control and pinned JJ against the wall and kissed her back, even pressing a flurry of light kisses to her throat and jaw. The sighs she drew out of JJ were music to her ears.<p>

"JJ," Emily said softly when she finished. "Wow."

The bridge of JJ's nose turned red as she blushed. "I'm sorry about that. I—"

Emily cut her off with a gentle kiss on the lips. "Don't be sorry; I'm not. I liked it, and it's also something that _I've_ wanted to do with _you."_

"Really?" JJ could hardly believe what she was hearing and her eyes began tearing up. "Oh, my God…"

Emily lovingly wiped the blond's tears away and held a hand over her heart, rubbing the area in a soothing up-and-down motion.

"Deep breaths, babe." She coached, noting how JJ's heartbeat doubled at the use of the pet name. "We can talk about it, but we still have to get you ready."

"Okay." JJ undid the hook on her skirt and invited Emily to undo the zipper since it was behind her. "I've always cared about you, Emily, but I was really shy about it."

Emily undid the zipper and carefully helped JJ out of her skirt. "Do you have any idea of how long?"

JJ stepped completely out of her skirt and kicked it to the side before turning to face Emily, in just her undergarments and her disguise.

"Probably about a month after we first met. These last three months with Daniel was just me kidding myself."

Emily made a conscious choice to open the garment bag instead of kissing JJ again, and inside the bag, amongst other things, she found a pumpkin-colored turtleneck dress with a brown sash and a pair of leggings, perfect for the crisp November weather outside.

"You work on the dress," Emily said. "And I'll work on the leggings."

JJ put her dress on and worked it over the bump, hyper-aware of Emily's hands on her legs, guiding her feet into the leggings and pulling the material up.

"You know how when you see someone for the first time and something just clicks for some inexplicable reason?"

JJ nodded, trying to concentrate on more than just the feeling of Emily's hands on the lower half of her body, now smoothing out the wrinkles in the leggings and adjusting the waistline to fit properly. She even felt Emily's warm fingers graze her bare skin down there as she did so.

"Yes, I do," JJ answered sincerely. "And what you just described is the definition of love at first sight."

Emily stood and looked JJ square in the eyes, raising her eyebrows. JJ's eyes widened in surprise when she realized the volume of Emily's quiet, and what she was conveying with it.

"Really?"

Emily kissed JJ on the forehead. "Really. Does this feel rushed to you?"

JJ adjusted the dress over her fake bump and turned to look at herself in the mirror.

"No." She found herself saying. "I know that I just got out of a relationship literally yesterday, but when I'm with you, everything feels right and my heart is full."

Now Emily was the one to turn to mush. "I feel the exact same way, Jayje, and when I woke up this morning, you had your arms wrapped around my waist."

JJ quickly tied the sash on her dress. "I was barely awake, but I remember that."

Poor Emily's emotions were on a roller coaster because of her pregnancy hormones. Instead of pinning JJ up against her against the wall and taking her in that small room, she sat her down on the bench and began helping her into the socks and Ugg boots that she'd found in the box where the prosthetic piece had been.

"When I saw you like that, I thought, "God, she is so beautiful," and also that I didn't want the moment to end."

_"I_ don't want _this_ moment to end."

Finished dressing JJ's feet, Emily sat beside her. "When all of this—the case, I mean—is over, do you want to give us a shot?"

"Oh, my God yes! But," her eyes flickered towards Emily's middle. "But what about the baby? If we do this, I don't want to be kept from him or her."

"I would never dream of doing that to you." Emily said. "It would hurt me too much."

"And when I love someone deeply, I don't go halfway. I go _all_ in."

"So do I."

JJ caressed Emily's cheek. "I love you, Em, and I want to be able to love the baby, too."

Emily was the one to widen her eyes in surprise this time. "You said 'I love you,' JJ."

"Because I do."

"And I love you, too." Emily held JJ's hand to her own real, baby belly. "Even if this—us—wasn't happening, I'd still want you to be some kind of mother figure to the baby because every kid needs two parents. I grew up with just my mom, and there's no way that I'd let that happen to any of my children."

JJ's heart leapt; even if it was in an unconventional way, she was going to be a mother!

"Here." JJ unhooked the necklace around her neck and fastened it around Emily's. "Hold onto this for me."

Emily held out the long thin gold chain and looked at the charm on the end: two gold hearts intertwined with each other.

"JJ, this is Rosaline's necklace."

Rosaline had JJ's precious older sister who had taken her own life when JJ was eleven. Only Emily and Penelope knew the whole story, and that the Rosaline had given JJ the necklace the last time they had ever spoken. It was now JJ's most treasured possession.

"Yes, it is. Now the little one knows that both of its mamas are watching over her."

JJ uncurled Emily's fingers from the charm and then leaned down, kissing Emily's bump gently. "I love you, little one, and I can't wait to have more cuddles with you and mama again. You just keep growing, and mama will keep a close eye on you."

JJ continued to talk to the baby for a few moments, and Emily's heart was even more full. She even found herself wondering—just for a second—what ring size JJ wore.

"Come here." Emily pulled JJ into her arms. "I can't wait to be a family with you when you come back, but please just let me hold you one more time before you go."

JJ sank into the hug, wanting to make it last.

* * *

><p>When they made it back down to the others, they remained as professional as possible, although only to a point because their friends cheered, clapped, and whistled in approval of JJ's new figure because it looked completely believable, especially with how she carried herself.<p>

"You can have _my_ chair, mamacita." Derek told JJ as he stood and offered it to her. "We were just discussing a few last minute things."

"Like what?" She settled into the chair and looked around at everybody. "I am all ears."

"For starters, we will be putting a wire on you, but it will only be able to pick up what you're hearing." As Derek spoke, Penelope came forward and fastened the bug in question to the inside of JJ's dress collar. "There won't be any GPS because we don't want to run the risk of the unsub finding it."

JJ nodded understandingly. "You all will find me with an alternate way."

"Yes, we will." Spencer confirmed as Penelope stepped back to admire her handiwork. "The most important thing is to let the wire pick up the unsub's voice and what they're saying so that we can work our way back from there."

"And if I feel I'm going to be compromised?"

Hotch answered this one. "Then you destroy the wire, and all evidence of it immediately. After that, you work on getting yourself and the babies out. Their safety is your number one priority. Understood?"

"Absolutely."

Captain Bishop, who had been hanging back, watching the visitors do their work, saw his opportunity to speak and seized it.

"Agent Jareau," he said as he approached her. "I will have my best officers—plain clothes—in place when we take you to the park where Zoe, Lorelei, and Emma were taken from. The idea of this whole operation is to get taken, so you'll need to make yourself as inviting as possible. After that, you are on your own."

"I understand."

Rossi joined Bishop and held a hand out to JJ. "We are now inside the unsub's time window. Ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." JJ gave Rossi her hand and let him help her up. "Let's roll."

* * *

><p>JJ liked Rossi, and truly appreciated that it was him driving her to the park. True, they were still getting to know him, but she'd been the first to warm up to who he was as a person, and not just a celebrated writer and FBI profiler. Rossi was warm, kind, and very funny, all good qualities in someone who worked in their line of business.<p>

He also reminded JJ of her dad, Bruce. He'd passed away fifteen years ago, but he had always been the kindest, most gentle man JJ had ever known.

"JJ," Rossi said when they pulled into a parking space at the park. "You okay, kiddo?"

JJ smiled at the nickname; her dad had called her kiddo a lot.

"I'm fine—just a little out of my wheelhouse because I'm the one who is making important phone calls, holding press conferences, and pulling strings. I guess this always takes me by surprise a little bit."

"Well, after we saw you shoot Jason Clark Battle—in the head, through a heavy glass-plated door, might I add—I've noticed that you're stronger than you even realize."

JJ's chest filled with pride and she sat up a little straighter. "Thank you, sir."

"You're quite welcome."

JJ sighed, thinking fleetingly of Emily and the baby. "I guess I gotta go."

"Good luck."

JJ gave Rossi one last smile and left the car.

The park was as fancy as a place like Central Park, but it was very beautiful, all the same. Trained FBI agent that she was, she could spot Bishop's people keeping an eye on her. With that in mind, she came upon a duck pond where she was the only human amongst a flock of ducks and sat down at a bench near the water. The birds gathered around her, wondering if she was going to feed them, only to leave her be just as quickly when they realized she was empty handed.

JJ really did look like a pregnant woman due at anytime, so to throw herself into the part, she traced shapes over her bump while her thoughts drifted back to Emily and the conversation they'd had in the dressing room. They loved each other, and when this was all done, they were going go be a family!

Maybe—depending on how things went, and if Emily didn't have plans—she'd even bring her home to Pennsylvania for Christmas in a few weeks to meet her mom and her siblings. The Jareaus knew of JJ's bisexuality and they had no problems with it because while one of her older brothers was as straight as a stick and had two kids with his wife, JJ's other brother was gay and had recently adopted a little girl from China with his husband. The whole family would adore Emily, and if JJ gave enough of a forewarning, they'd set out a stocking and Christmas presents for her on Christmas Day.

JJ was brought back to reality with a jolt when she felt something hard and metallic, but unmistakable in the middle of her back: a gun barrel.

Remembering that she had to play scared and innocent, JJ ignored her FBI instincts and dumbed herself to basic civilian and sat up straight, knowing that Bishop's people were camouflaged in the surrounding foliage.

"What do you want?" She asked timidly. "I'll do whatever whatever you want, but I'm pregnant!"

The person spoke in a deep male voice, and JJ could tell right off the bat without even turning that he was in his late twenties, only a few years younger than her. He also spoke with an Eastern European accent. It sounded Russian.

"That is perfect. Sir will be most pleased because you are his exact type."

He jabbed the gun barrel a little harder in JJ's back.

"What's your name?"

JJ gave him an alias. "Becky."

"Okay, Becky—get up, and do not look at me. Understand?"

JJ nodded and stood, taking a moment because she didn't want to tip backwards. "What now?"

Her kidnapper stood next to her and kept his gun, although concealed, trained on JJ's hip. "You and I are going to go for a walk to my car, and then we're going to go for a ride. How does that sound?"

Kill or be killed, JJ thought to herself. Appeal to his ego.

"It sounds like an adventure."

So this is what it feels like to be in over your head, JJ thought. Keep your head up.


	4. Taken Aback

JJ's captor led her a little ways to a parking lot that stood empty of people because they were all out enjoying the park. That's when she noticed her detainer had brought her to a white delivery-type van and was opening it, but before JJ could make out anything particular about it, a hood was placed over her head and her wrists were cuffed. In the blink of an eye, she was forced into the van and had to curl up quickly to avoid getting hit by the door as it shut.

Over the years, JJ had been to New York City enough times to know its layout pretty well, but she eventually lost track of the van's route and resigned herself to settling in for the ride.

Eventually, the van slowed and she heard a mechanical sound above them, like a garage door opening. The van went forward a few more feet and parked as the door shut behind them, engulfing them in… wherever they were. Her captor left the van for a minute and JJ heard another door opening in the distance before the van door opened again and she was pulled out of it.

"Welcome to your new home." She heard as she was given a prod in the back. "Start walking."

Still blindfolded and handcuffed, JJ obeyed. "Where are we?"

"Watch your step—we're coming up some stairs," JJ blanched when she felt his hands on her arms, guiding her. "And now we're in the kitchen. Just follow the sound of my voice… good girl, good girl."

JJ was led through what felt like the first floor of a house, and then up a flight of stairs before they finally stopped.

"Is there any water?" JJ asked. "I'm thirsty."

"Don't go thinking that just because I've been this nice to you, that means I'll cater to your whims now."

He yanked the hood off JJ's face and she immediately averted her eyes, remembering what he'd said about no eye contact.

"It's okay." He held her face with his hand and guided it so that she was looking at him. "I want you to see me now."

JJ studied the man, disliking that he wasn't letting go of her.

In truth, though, her captor was handsome with a stalky build and height, fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes. He was even dressed in a plain shirt, dark stonewashed jeans, a black leather jacket, hiking boots. Even with his Russian accent, everything about him was ordinary, making him easy to lose in a crowd. JJ knew instinctively that this wasn't who they were looking for, but someone who worked for their target, but they hadn't profiled the unsub having a partner, and that was worrisome.

To show her disdain, JJ gave him her best glare, but that only earned her a chuckle.

"Feisty little beauty, aren't you? You look like you're going to bite me."

"I won't." She snapped.

"Good girl." He praised and slowly lowered his hand. "Good girl."

"What is your name?"

He thought for a moment. "You may call me Arseni."

"Okay, Arseni, will you tell me why you took me?"

"Behind that door, Becky," he pointed to a closed one just behind the door. "Is your answer. You will go in there and not come out until someone comes for you. Do you understand?"

"I do." JJ held up her arms. "What about the cuffs?"

Arseni fetched a key out of his pocket and undid the cuffs. Without giving JJ much room to move, he opened the door, shoved her in and locked the door behind her.

It was a miracle that JJ didn't tip over backwards and when she caught herself, she looked around to see that she was in a nursery, although it was very crude. In one corner, there was a changing table and that sort of thing, while against the far wall—adjacent to a doorless restroom—was a mini fridge and a rocking chair.

Where are they? JJ thought. Where are the babies?

Almost immediately, JJ heard the sound of a small baby sniffling, getting ready to cry. JJ looked around the room quietly and saw three baby baskets in a row, near a closet. She hurried over and saw that each basket contained one of the three babies they were looking for, and that their baskets were labeled with who was who.

Milo was the littlest, so he was in the middle, wrapped in a blue blanket. Ariel was on the left, wrapped in a pink blanket and Juliet was on the end, wrapped in a purple blanket. Ariel and Juliet were sleeping, but Milo was wide awake and whining.

JJ picked him and wrapped him snugly in his blanket when she saw that it was loose on him and the material of his red sleeper was quite thin.

"Hey, little guy." JJ cooed to Milo as she rocked him in her arms. "You're okay. I'm going to take care of you. Yes, I am."

Milo quieted quickly, content to be held by someone warm and gentle with a kind voice. He became so content with JJ that he began grizzling her breast, wanting milk. By JJ's estimation, he was less than two days old, so it was no wonder all he could think about was food and being held.

"Sorry, Milo—no help there," She glanced towards the mini fridge, this time noticing that a few baby bottles and a can of baby formula stood atop it. "But I'll make you a bottle in a minute."

Before JJ could move towards fulfilling her words, she heard Ariel and Juliet waking. Remembering how long their mothers had been gone when she saw that they were a little bigger and older than Milo, JJ put her best guess for their ages at two weeks and three weeks old.

With only a little difficulty, JJ picked up Ariel and Juliet, too.

"Hi, babies." JJ looked down at the trio of little ones with a smile, immediately imagining what it was going to be like when she handed Emily their baby for the first time in the delivery room. "I am so, so sorry that all of you are in this place, but I'll take care of all three of you. Just think of me as your guardian angel."

* * *

><p>Across town, Emily and Derek had tried talking to Zoe, Lorelei, and Emma about their ordeal, but no such luck. Zoe knew something, but wouldn't say it, while poor Lorelei was too frightened to talk about it, even though she knew what Lorelei knew. And Emma? She'd been asleep in her bed because of her medication.<p>

The partners returned to the war room at the precinct where everybody was camped out, mostly listening to JJ's wire, just in time to hear her sing 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' to the babies. Even though nobody could see her, they could hear the wobbliness of her voice, like she was trying not to cry.

Hearing her so vulnerable put Emily's heart into a series of knots and she couldn't handle it, so she stepped out into the hallway, purse in hand. She needed to leave.

Out of concern, Penelope followed her.

"Emily, what is it?"

"Hearing Jayje sing to the babies makes my heart melt, but at the same time, I feel like I'm falling apart."

"Because you _do_ care about her." Penelope realized.

"More than you know."

The bespectacled woman titled her head to the side, as she always did when she was recalling an information tidbit without the help of her computer.

"You're a local of NYC, right?"

"Yes."

"Have you had a chance to call your mother about the baby yet?"

Emily shook her head. "No, and I know for a fact that she's in town right now."

"Then maybe you _should_ call her; it could help you feel better."

Emily shook her head again. "I'll go see her after the case is done, but not sooner because I don't want to get distracted."

Before Penelope could say anything further, Hotch joined them for a minute. "Everything okay out here, you two?"

"Sir," Emily said. "Is it okay if I go run a personal errand?"

Hotch knew what she was getting at, so there was no need for clarification. "Of course, Prentiss. Take your time."

"Thank you, sir."

When he left, Penelope looked at Emily in confusion. "Does he know?"

"He kind of just guessed when we were boarding the jet." Emily put a hand on Penelope's arm. "If I leave now, can you send me the address of the nearest free clinic?"

"So you can finally check on your little darling? Yes."

"You are a mind reader, PG."

"I live to serve, Lady Emily." The tech analyst gave a flourishing bow. "You will have it in five minutes or less."

True to Penelope's word, she found the address of the nearest hospital with a free clinic exactly five minutes later and sent the information to Emily's phone, just as she was hailing a taxi.

* * *

><p>In what felt like no time, Emily was paying her taxi fare and checking herself into the free clinic at Saint Vincent's hospital. Once she was shown to a private curtained area near the back of the room, the nurse gave her a preliminary check-up and instructed her to wait.<p>

Poor Emily was almost a bundle of nerves by the time the doctor, a kind-looking Japanese-American woman old who looked the same age as her mother, joined her.

"Hello, Miss Prentiss," (Emily didn't bother correcting her, as she did out of habit when people didn't address her by her proper title) "My name is Doctor Tachibana. I understand that you are newly pregnant, but that you haven't had time for an ultrasound yet?"

Emily nodded. "Yes—I travel a lot for work, and I just found out about the pregnancy yesterday before coming home for a few hours."

"I see." Tachibana indicated for Emily to lay back on the bed as she fired up the ultrasound machine. "Please lay back and pull your shirt up to your breasts."

Emily did as instructed, crinkling her nose as her head made contact with the paper beneath her; she had never cared for the loud rustling sound it made. Seeing her patient's discomfort, Tachibana made small talk with Emily.

"What do you do for a living?"

"I work in the FBI, actually, and our work has brought us to New York today, but we're based in Quantico. Right now, I need to put personal health priorities first because this is an IVF baby, and my third attempt at it."

Tachibana gave an understanding nod and indicated a tube of gel she'd picked up. "Everything is ready now, so I'm going to put the gel on your belly now. Are you ready?"

Emily nodded. "Go for it."

Tachibana spread the gel on Emily's middle and moved the ultrasound wand on the surface, probing it gently, eyes focused on the screen beside her.

"Here you go." She said after a moment and pointed at small grey area in the middle of the screen. "Here's your baby."

When Emily saw what the physician was pointing out, she felt her heart go light. That 'small grey blob' was her baby; he or she was really there, growing away.

"How does everything look?" Emily asked.

"Positively perfect." Tachibana said happily as she moved the apparatus around on Emily's middle a little more so they could see the baby better. "According to the measurements I'm getting of the baby, you're eight weeks along. Does that sound right to you?"

Emily nodded. "Yes, it does. I just didn't think about the possibility of a pregnancy because these last two months have been really rough, and I've never carried to term before."

"How many times have you been pregnant before now?"

"Three." Emily said softly. "The first time was when I was fifteen, but I freaked out and got an abortion. The second and third times were a few months ago, with my first two IVF rounds. With all of those pregnancies, I never made it past the seven week mark."

"I see…"

Tachibana's words were trailing off as she looked back at the monitor again, twisting one of her the knobs on it to adjust the view she was looking at.

"What is it?" Emily asked apprehensively.

"There's a second baby in your womb."

Emily's heart bottomed out in surprise; being in her mid-thirties and undergoing IVF, she knew full well that there was a very high chance of expecting multiples, but now that it was actually happening, she felt like the wind was getting knocked out of her lungs.

Don't cry, Emily. She told herself. Not here, not now.

_"T-twins? _I'm having _twins?"_

"Indeed you are, so congratulations on that." Tachibana smiled. "How do you feel?"

"Excited and so surprised."

"That's perfectly normal. Are you married?"

"No," Emily unconsciously touched a hand to her necklace. "But I have someone who will be helping me. She was one of the first to know I'm pregnant, but I can't tell her or even call her yet because she's out in the field right now."

The FBI agent looked closer at the screen, willing herself yet again to not cry because JJ wasn't here to share in this moment with her.

"Can you show me my children again, please?"

"Absolutely, and I can even let you hear their heartbeats."

Tachibana flipped a toggle on her monitor, and the steady whooshing sounds of the babies' heartbeats filled the room.

It was the most beautiful sound Emily had ever heard.


	5. Shatter Me

**Because cheetobreathJareau wanted more JJ ;)**

* * *

><p>Poor JJ was already losing track of time because even though she was in a bedroom with windows, she couldn't see anything outside that would've given inidication about the time of day, but then again, it was also late November—Thanksgiving was a few days away—so the sun went down quickly, anyway.<p>

Of course, Ariel, Juliet, and Milo were JJ's main concerns. Using the bottles and baby formula provided, along with the filtered water she'd found in the fridge, JJ made bottles for her young charges and got them fed and changed in due time. Ariel and Juliet fell asleep quickly, but Milo was a night owl and refusing to go back to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Come on, baby boy." JJ stood by the window, rocking Milo in her arms. "Please go to sleep; I'm all talked out."<p>

Alas, Milo was wide awake and very amused by the sound of JJ's voice.

As began to wonder when anything was going to happen, the door to her bedroom opened and she received her first visitor since Arseni. This man had fair skin, bright blue eyes like hers, a hooked nose, and slick blond hair that was no doubt laying back with the help of expensive hair gel. Nothing about this guy looked friendly, and his facial expression and two thousand dollar Italian suit-loafer-silk tie combo he had going on aided that impression.

The one thing JJ immediately noticed, however was that he was carrying a TV teary that was loaded down with a hot pastrami sandwich, a banana, two oatmeal raisin cookies, and a glass of water.

"What's all this?" JJ asked suspiciously. "Who are you?"

"You're just as feisty as Arseni said." The man remarked, his voice a little heavier on the Russian accent than Arseni's had been. "Has anyone told you why you're here?"

"No!" JJ snarled, actually irritated.

"You consider yourself lucky that you're holding that baby." The newcomer growled at JJ. "If you weren't, I'd punish you properly for mouthing off to me, you dumb whore."

That last jab hurt because it had been unexpected, but JJ did her best to not let it faze her. "Who the hell are you, and what do you want with all these babies? Where are the mothers?"

_"They_ are not your concern, and as for my name, you may call me Grisha."

JJ looked at him, her suspicion deepening. "How do I know that that is your true name?"

"You don't, but you may be the judge." Grisha taunted her. "Concerning the babies, I need you to care for them—and any babies we procure from now on—so that they can be ready when the highest bidder comes calling."

Of course, JJ already knew that this was the business being conducted, but that didn't make it any less barbaric.

"You're a _baby peddler?"_

Grisha cringed at JJ's rudimentary phrasing. "If that's the way you want to put it, then yes."

JJ decided to test Grisha. "What if I _don't_ cooperate with you?"

"Then I will be sure to sell your baby the _highest_ of bidders, and I assure you—a baby like yours with blond hair and blue blues will most _certainly_ fetch top dollar. What are you expecting to have?"

"A girl."

Grisha gave JJ a look of disdain. "When she is born, you may keep her to nurse her, but only until we find her new parents."

JJ was heartbroken at the thought, even though her baby was imaginary. "What then?"

"We will start trying for a son together because I want one of my own, and you will be perfect as his mother."

JJ blanched and backed up against the wall, holding Milo close. "But what if I give you a daughter?"

"You may keep her, but I won't have anything to do with her, except money. We will try again for sons until we have at least three."

Now JJ wanted to vomit: on one hand, Grisha totally bought her disguise, while on the other hand, he wanted to keep her as nothing more than a caretaker and a personal baby factory. The only person JJ wanted to give babies to or have any with was Emily.

"Becky, does that sound good to you?" Grisha asked.

JJ had no choice but to agree. "Yes, it does."

"Very good." Grisha leered at JJ, think all sorts of bad things, but he restrained himself. "I'm going to go now, but don't forget to eat."

Without another word, Grisha left JJ and shut the door behind him, disappearing to another part of the house.

JJ looked to Milo and saw that he had finally fallen asleep, so she laid him back in his bed. Ariel and Juliet were also fast asleep, so JJ counted her blessings and ate.

It felt weird, eating food set out by someone so awful, but once she was positive that none of it was tainted, she tucked in. As JJ ate, she realized that she was just about starving, which was odd, because she'd eaten just a few hours ago. It was probably just nerves and missing Emily.

* * *

><p>After JJ was done with her meal, she entertained the idea of sleeping while the babies did, but Juliet woke up and wanted her, so JJ picked her up and settled with her in the rocking chair.<p>

"I won't let anything happen to you, little one, or the others." JJ murmured to her. "Do you want to hear a story? I know lots…"

JJ proceeded to tell Juliet a few fairy tales that she had memorized, and like Milo had been earlier, Juliet was fascinated by the sound of JJ's voice and did everything she could to stay awake.

I am so going to have no voice by the end of this, JJ thought. Just treat it as practice for when you and Emily have sleepless nights after the baby comes. That's the ticket.

* * *

><p>It was more than ten hours—pushing eleven—before JJ saw Grisha next.<p>

The babies were all sleeping, and JJ had finished the breakfast that had been brought for her, but something—the eggs, she suspected—just wasn't sitting well with her system and was quietly threatening to come back up.

"And how are you feeling today, blossom?" Grisha asked her.

JJ shuddered at the nickname. "Just peachy."

Anatoly knelt down in front of her and gave her a light slap on the cheek. "Don't smart. I'll ask you again: how are you feeling today, blossom?"

"Good, thank you."

"That's more like it." He showed her a binder he had with him. "Now—I came to show you something, and if you don't want to get hit again, you will be polite and call me sir now. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

Next thing JJ knew: _SLAP!_

Grisha grabbed JJ roughly by the jaw and stared her down, determined to spook her. JJ was almost seeing spots because of how hard she'd been hit, but she matched Grisha's gaze, equally determined.

"I'm sorry, sir." JJ said quickly.

"Good girl." Grisha opened the binder and showed her the contents: nursery plans, and lots of them. "You pick one out, and we will get all of the materials to build it when you are carrying our boy."

Again, JJ fought back the impulse to vomit, although it was becoming harder.

All to aware of Grisha watching her, JJ arched her back as she pursued through the pages to give the impression that the 'baby' was wiggling around.

"This one."

JJ was pointing to a generic sports-themed room. If she and Emily ever had any sons, she wouldn't pick anything like sports as a theme for a nursery because she knew full well what it was like to be pressured to do well on sports; it was how she'd gotten a real career and gotten herself out of her small town. The only reason she was looking at this particular design was because she just wanted Grisha to leave already.

The aforementioned man took the binder and stood. "I like this one, too. We will call our boy Sasha: it means defender of man. What do you think?"

JJ's only response was to blow her chunks all over Grisha's shoes—twice.

Naturally, Grisha was enraged and proceeded to give JJ a hard kick in the ribs that left her actually seeing stars and crying in pain this time.

"I'm so sorry, sir!" JJ cried, praying that Grisha wouldn't sneak in later to kill her while she slept. "I'm so sorry!"

Grisha kicked JJ again, getting off on her pain. "How _dare_ you, whore! As punishment for that, not only will you clean up all of this filth on your own, but there will also be no food or water coming your way for the next thirty-six hours, beginning now!"

"But what about my baby?" JJ put her hands to her bump. "I need to eat to keep my daughter healthy; and I just ate breakfast! How am I supposed to go thirty-six hours without—"

JJ's body played the 'I really hate you today' card again when she projectile vomited on Anatoly for a third time and finally broke down into tears of humiliation as she shielded herself, unwilling to be Grisha's punching bag again.

There wasn't a lot that could break Jennifer Amaryllis Mae Jareau, but when her own body was rebelling against her and she was in pain, and in the knowledge that her friends were listening but unable to immediately come to her aid, well… it made her collapse like a deck of cards.

Grisha didn't answer JJ, instead leaving her to her own devices and taking extra care to lock the door behind him when he went back into the hallway.

Almost the minute JJ was done cleaning up her pool of sick and feeling decent, she heard cries from Ariel, Juliet, and Milo. They'd slept through the whole thing, but were now ready to be held, cuddled, and play with because that was all they knew; JJ was their whole world.

And she would fight to the end to protect them.


	6. Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

**To cheetobreathJareau: try not freak out over the fast update… aw, who I kidding? Go ahead, boo ;) xo**

* * *

><p>It was another twenty-eight hours before Emily and the team figured out where JJ was: a house in a normal, quiet residential Queens neighborhood.<p>

How did they get there? With no small amount of coaxing from Emily, they finally got Zoe, Lorelei, and Emma to cooperate enough to give their full accounts of what they'd just gone through. That led them to a tiny apartment above a bodega in Little Odessa, a primarily Russian-speaking neighborhood, and it was in the apartment that they found a few crackheads, as well as the plans for a baby-trafficking ring, and even a drug stash.

All of the documents were in Russian, but luckily for them, that was Emily's favorite—and second—language to be fluent in, so while the others all made arrests and investigated the apartment, she translated a few of the papers before she finally finding the address of the trafficking house.

And rather than go in on a full-scale sting, Emily came up with a different (and much safer) approach of how to go about a rescue.

* * *

><p>JJ was dangerously close to hitting rock bottom: she was extremely hungry and dirty (her bathroom had no shower, and even if it did, she wouldn't have risked blowing her cover), and she was also living in fear that Grisha would come and hurt her, or even worse: take Ariel, Juliet, and Milo from her.<p>

On account of that last part, JJ slept fitfully.

"Becky, wake up!"

JJ jerked awake at the sound of Grisha's voice and sat up to see him standing in the doorway of her bedroom.

"What is it, sir?"

"Make yourself decent—we have two perspective buyers coming to look at the children."

"What?" Even though JJ had anticipated this happening, it was the last thing she wanted because it meant that she'd failed. "When are they coming?"

"Twenty minutes; you have until then to get the babies ready."

"Understood, sir."

Grisha nodded and was almost out the door when he tacked on something in afterthought: "And if you must vomit, try to make it to the toilet!"

Grisha shut the door behind him and the first thing JJ did was cry: one of the babies was more than likely about to be sold for profit, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

The puking comment got JJ thinking, though: ever since she'd been denied of her food and water, she'd been throwing up and dry-heaving quite a bit. It made sense because she was running on empty, but the frequency with which it was happening made her consider a wild possibility: morning sickness.

If she _was_ pregnant, that meant she was carrying Daniel's baby. There was no way that she'd let him into the picture, but if he showed up to try something funny, she'd just set Derek loose on him.

Being pregnant at this very particular moment would mean that she and Emily could experience pregnancy together, and that their babies would be the same age and never be alone. That would be a dream come true.

Come on, JJ, she thought to herself. You gotta focus.

"Hey, babies." JJ cooed to her charges, trying not to cry. "I'm sorry. I tried—I really, really did."

Ariel, Juliet, and Milo just cooed happily, so JJ changed all of their diapers and and put them in clean outfits. She even considered feeding them, but that thought went straight out the window when she gave a sudden wince of pain.

"Ariel, Juliet, that _hurt!"_

Even though it had been completely innocent, both of the girls had leaned into her chest, one wanting milk, the other looking to snuggle. (Milo was just relaxing next to Ariel, happy as a clam) The girls' actions, though, had elicited soreness in JJ's breasts, another pregnancy symptom. JJ also realized in that moment that she hadn't had her cycle in awhile, but the only trouble was that since she couldn't focus on any one thing for too long, she honestly couldn't remember the last time it had happened.

JJ snapped to attention when she heard the bedroom door open as Grisha let in his 'perspective buyers.' Her heart leapt in surprise and joy when she saw Derek and Penelope, although they were both dressed up as a high-end couple. JJ worked as hard as she could to not blow their covers, not when they were so close.

"Mister and Missus Tyler," Grisha was laying on the charm. "This the room where the children are looked after."

Penelope looked around, quickly spotting JJ in the rocking chair, all three babes in arms. "I see your nanny, but where are the babies' mothers?"

"Don't worry." Grisha said in a tone of dismissal. "Missus Tyler, why don't you go see which baby you would like to adopt while your husband I discuss payment?"

"Of course, of course."

The moment the men started talking about money, Penelope crossed the room to JJ and touched a hand to her cheek, checking for any signs of illness or fever, and when she didn't feel anything, she picked Milo up first and spoke softly to him, relieved that he was okay.

Little Milo became so smitten with Penelope (he liked that she smelled like strawberries) that he fell right to sleep. Ariel and Juliet were both easily pacified, but they were also feeling snackish again and grew upset when Penelope didn't have anything to feed them with.

Penelope gave them back to JJ and picked Milo up again.

Unperturbed by the change, Milo sank even deeper into his dreamland. Penelope and JJ could've both sworn that Milo was even smiling at them.

"What about this little guy, beau?" Penelope walked over to Derek so he could see Milo better. "He's the only boy, and he's the littlest of the lot."

"He is pretty handsome for one so small." Derek stroked Milo's cheek with a fingertip and then smiled when Milo found it and held on tight with his tiny fingers. "He's got a good grip, too. Wow."

Grisha watched his 'clients,' feeling really proud of himself that he was about to a sale. "His name is Milo. He is the one you want?"

Derek and Penelope looked at each other, communicating a whole conversation with just their eyes, a charming and endearing ability of theirs.

"Yes." Penelope said, turning back to Grisha. "We choose Milo."

"Excellent." Grisha chirped. "I will arrange the boy's papers in a moment, but first, I would like to count the money. No sixty-thousand, no Milo."

That last comment was directed at Derek and meant to be a scare tactic, but to his credit, Derek was unflappable and went on to hold out the briefcase he'd brought with him.

"It's all here."

Grisha took the briefcase greedily. "Do you mind if I count it?"

"Of course not; go ahead."

Grisha knelt down on the floor and opened the briefcase, not even taking notice of Penelope slowly backing up towards JJ and the girls.

Keep it together, JJ. the blond told herself. Derek will do something in three, two, one.

Right on JJ's count, Derek flashed Grisha his badge. "Not so much fun counting money now, is it, tough guy?"

When Grisha realized what he'd just seen, he looked up at Derek in shock. "You're FBI?"

"That's right. Start running."

Grisha was on his feet and out of the room in a heartbeat, with Derek hot on his heels. When the men left, Penelope quickly laid the babies in their beds and went back to JJ, turning off her wire and tucking it in her pocket.

"JJ?" Penelope bent down so she was face-to-face with her sister-friend. "It's over, sweetheart. Derek will catch Grisha and arrest him, and I'll personally make sure that the babies are brought back to their mamas."

"Where is Emily?" JJ finally asked.

"Here!"

In what JJ would later call a miracle, Emily came running into the room, and went straight to them, speaking to Penelope first.

"PG, the medics are en route; you stay with the babies and go with them to the hospital—be aggressive if the EMT's try to shoo you away. I'm going to look after Jayje now."

Penelope nodded and Emily immediately turned her attention to JJ, easing her from the rocking chair to the floor.

"It's over." Emily sat with JJ and pulled her, hugging her carefully and even giving her a kiss on her temple. "It's over, and you did so good, baby."

JJ's bottom lip trembled when she heard the term of endearment from the love of her life, but it brought her back to her thoughts from earlier.

"Em, take the costume off me. We need to check something."

"Okay. Hold still."

Emily reached under the back of JJ's dress and unzipped the prosthetic piece, casting it aside and reached around, rubbing her hand over JJ's now bare middle to relieve the skin that had been bound up for so long. JJ felt herself turning into a puddle, but held Emily's hand in place when it landed on the lower part of her midriff, her own hand just above it from the top layer of her dress.

"Emily," JJ rested her head in the crook of the brunette's neck. "What does that feel like to you?"

"A baby bump." Emily gasped, palming the area gently. "JJ? _Are_ you pregnant?"

"I think so," was all JJ could manage before passing out in Emily's arms.

* * *

><p>The emergency medical technicians arrived moments after JJ's fainting and then they carted her off to the ambulance, Hotch instructed Emily to ride with JJ, something Emily was all too happy to do.<p>

"Is there anything else we need to know about your friend?" One of the technicians asked Emily as they quickly outfitted JJ with oxygen and saline while they checked her vitals.

"Just before JJ fainted, she told me that she thought she was pregnant." Emily said quickly. "She also took two home tests about a week ago, and they both popped negative. I also felt something that feels like a baby belly just before you guys showed up."

Heeding Emily's words, the technicians quickly prepped JJ for an emergency ultrasound.

They found the baby in no time at all.

"Oh, my God—JJ was right." Emily held one hand over her heart and the other on the underside of her own midsection where the twins were camped out. "Is the baby healthy?"

The tech performing the ultrasound looked a little closer at the screen. "Yep—the baby is quite healthy; eight weeks along."

Emily couldn't help it, but she cried in relief.

* * *

><p><strong>Don't think I don't see all of those follows popping up in my inbox daily ;) I'd love your thoughts, too!<strong>


	7. Emily And JJ Again

Thirst. That was the first thing JJ processed when she came to. Emily was the second.

"Em?"

"Right here." Emily sat with JJ and helped her sit up before offering her a cup of water with a straw in it. "Drink up."

JJ had to pace herself, but she drank until her thirst was quenched.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Emily asked her.

"Being in that house and telling you that I might be pregnant."

"You are."

"I—what?"

Emily held JJ's hands to her hospital gown, grinning. "Jayje, there _is_ a baby in there. You were correct."

JJ's eyes filled with tears and she held her hands over her heart. "Really? We're going to have _two_ babies?"

Emily laughed nervously and framed her middle for JJ. "I saw a doctor at a free clinic about an hour after you went under because I couldn't wait anymore, and everything is right on track, but the doctor found a second baby in there… _I'm_ having _twins."_

JJ almost went into processing overload, so she held up her hands to make a time-out sign, only to get distracted when she saw that her left ring finger was hooked up to a medical finger clamp with a wire running out it. That, in turn, was hooked up to a nearby monitor that was keeping track of all of her vitals. JJ also noticed that she had a needle on the inside of her left arm, just above her elbow, and that the needle was hooked up to an IV line with a saline drip, which was hanging from a stand next to her bed.

"Jesus Christ." JJ moaned as the reality of her situation began to sink in on her. "How many things am I hooked up to, and why?"

"Well, you've got these," Emily touched the finger clamp and the IV line. "Because you were deprived of any sustenance at all for twenty-eight hours, and then you were puking and dry-heaving for awhile."

JJ turned bright red. "You all heard that…"

"And nobody will _ever_ talk about it." Emily took one of JJ's hands in hers and touched it to the transparent, narrow plastic tubing protruding from her nose. "You earned yourself an extra oxygen flow until further notice because on top of everything else, you passed out clean in my arms just after we found you."

"Anything else?"

Emily hiked back JJ's gown a bit and showed her the wires that had been attached to her middle with sticky paper patches, acting like suction cups. "These are are to keep track of the baby's vitals."

"Wow." JJ leaned against Emily. "Was there an emergency ultrasound?"

"While you were in the ambulance, and I saw the baby on the screen, myself." Emily confirmed. "The little guy—or girl—is perfectly healthy, and you're eight weeks along, just like me."

"How about that?"

A new thought crossed JJ's mind and she cringed.

"How do I even tell _Daniel?"_

"We will worry about him later, okay?" Emily fixed JJ's gown so she looked presentable again. "Are you up for visitors?"

"Yes, but I gotta know: how are Ariel, Juliet, and Milo?"

"All very happy, and reunited with their mamas. Penelope looked after them until that happened."

"Please tell me she got to hold the babies."

"Oh, yeah." Emily chuckled. "It was the sweetest thing, and she looked like she was in heaven."

JJ ran a hand over her middle, reveling in the fact that there was a life growing inside it. "Penelope will make a fantastic mom one day, and when that day comes, it'll make you and me the crazy aunts."

"You will be the crazy one, but _I_ will be the one with the credit card." Emily stood and kissed JJ on the temple. "I'm going to go fetch the others before Penelope chews her hands off, but remember: you're on an IV drip, you've got a bruised rib, and no one on the team knows about the baby, so they will go whenever you want them to."

"You won't go, will you?"

"Not unless you want me to."

JJ felt that answer to go be satisfactory, so she patted the only part of Emily she could reach: her leg. "Thank you. Go ahead and go."

* * *

><p>Everybody was relieved to see JJ awake and sitting up. They even came bearing flowers and trinkets, as they always did whenever one of one of them was hospitalized. It was a family thing.<p>

At length, JJ said, "I know Thanksgiving is this week, but what day is it _today? _I lost track awhile ago."

"It's Monday afternoon," Spencer answered as he checked his watch. "Although it twenty minutes, it'll be—"

Hotch intervened before Spencer went off on a tangent because his tone alone suggested one was coming at the end of that sentence. "About Thanksgiving: when Strauss gave me this case, she said that when we finished, we can start vacation right away."

JJ raised her eyebrows. "All of us are on vacation right now? Why are all of you still here?"

"Because we wanted to see you, silly!" Penelope ruffled JJ's hair playfully. "We can't leave without doing that!"

"Works for me. How long did the doctor say I have to be here?"

"Until Wednesday morning."

JJ sighed heavily and leaned back in her bed. "Awesome."

Emily immediately realized that JJ's mood was on a slippery slope. "Okay, you guys—how about you all say goodbye until after Thanksgiving?"

They all took Emily's hint and said their good byes and gave her their best wishes for a speedy recovery. When Emily closed the door behind the last person, she hurried back to JJ and sat with her when she saw that she was about to cry.

"Hey, it's okay." Emily cooed. "It's okay."

"But I hate hospitals." JJ pouted. "They always remind me of when my dad died. My stepdad is alive and well, though, and that's good, but my dad Bruce, he died in heart surgery fifteen years ago when I was a teenager; his heart was already weak because of a heart attack, but he never made it off the table."

"I'm sorry for your loss… and I know how you feel about having a dead parent."

JJ looked Emily, her expression softening. "Who's gone?"

"Both my dad and my stepdad." she confirmed. "My bio-dad died a few months before I was born, and my stepdad passed away when I was three, so I never met one dad and I can't remember the other at all."

Oh, I hope you get along with my stepdad when you meet him, JJ thought. Aloud, she said, "Emily, I am so sorry."

Emily put a hand on JJ's thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Thanks, babe."

JJ held Emily's hand and her heart fluttered when their fingers automatically intertwined. "I'm also thinking about how Hotch gets to go home to Haley and Jack, how Spence is going to Las Vegas to see his mom, and how Penelope is going to Chicago with Derek because she always goes home with him for the holidays, and also about how you're going to see your mother."

"Well," with her free hand, Emily smoothed out JJ's hair and tapped her on the nose. "I was kind of hoping that after they let you out from here, that you would want to come back with me for the holidays."

"You mean to Virginia?"

"Well… that, too—if you want—but I was thinking more along the lines of spending Thanksgiving with my mother and me."

JJ furrowed her eyebrows in confusion; she remembered that Emily had once called her mother Elizabeth 'Ice Queen' Prentiss. "Does she know…?"

"That I'm bisexual?"

JJ nodded.

"She does, and she's my mother, so if this is the lifestyle I'm choosing for myself, then she'll be happy with it—that's what she told me when I came out."

"Well, that's good, then." JJ decided. "Does she know that she's going to be a grandmother?"

"Not yet, but I plan on telling her very soon." Emily stroked JJ's hand with her thumb. "Guess what?"

"I couldn't possibly."

"Mother has been dying to meet the people I work with, and once she meets you, she'll spoil you rotten."

"Will she, now?"

Emily nodded. "And when you get on her good side—which I know you will—she might even let you call her Lizzie."

"Well, how can I pass up a chance to get on a first-name basis with my girlfriend's mother?"

Emily puffed up her chest, proud. "So that means we're going to do it now—be a couple, I mean."

And hopefully, we'll be a married couple one day, JJ thought.

"Yes." JJ looked at Emily with the utmost seriousness. "Knowing that you wanted to be together as much as I did gave me happy thoughts to hold onto when I was in that house."

"Oh, Jayje…" Emily felt her heart fill up with even more love towards the woman beside her.

"I'll come to Thanksgiving with you your mother, so long as you promise me one thing."

"Name it."

"Come spend Christmas and New Year's with me and _my_ family in Pennsylvania."

Emily didn't even hesitate. "Done."

"Seal it with a kiss?"

"You bet. Come here."

The two lovebirds kissed soundly, with Emily holding JJ's face in her hands and stroking it with her thumbs as they got lost in their own world.

Little did either woman realize that out in the hallway, Hotch, Rossi, Penelope, Derek, and Spencer were watching, all beside themselves with joy.

_"See?"_ Penelope crowed. "I _knew_ Emily would kiss her today; you all owe me twenty bucks!"

Everybody handed over the betting money to the tech analyst, and she happily pocketed the eighty bucks.

"You know," Rossi added as they all headed towards the elevators. "All I have to say is that it's about damn time those two stopped denying what we all saw when they met for the first time."

"I'm gonna have to agree with you on that one." said Hotch.

"Me, too." Spencer added.

"And us." Derek and Penelope tacked on in unison.

Feeling cheeky, Rossi decided to voice the other thought on his mind. "I'll start taking bets now about who proposes to who, and when."

The family boarded the elevator together, happily arguing about names and dates.


	8. Mama Prentiss

Emily got to stay with JJ in her hospital room, and it was a good thing because once JJ's doctor took her off the IV drip, JJ had a genuine meltdown when she was told that she could eat, but because of all of the vomiting she'd been doing, she had to work her way up from soup and pudding until she could keep solid food down completely again. It was Emily's gentle powers of persuasion that got JJ to consider eating anything.

JJ fell asleep after she was done eating, so after leaving her a note, Emily snuck down to the cafeteria and got herself some dinner. Once that was done, she found a quiet spot out in the corridor. It was time to call her mother.

"Emily!" Elizabeth Prentiss' voice took a tone of delight when she answered her phone. "How are you?"

"I'm great, actually." Emily said truthfully. "You just got back from your posting in London, right?"

"A week ago, but yes. Are you in the city?"

"Mhm. We just finished a case, but I'll get to that in a minute."

Elizabeth turned apprehensive. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Positive, mother. Are you sitting down?"

There was a scraping of a chair and then a soft "Yes," from the elder Prentiss.

Emily took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I'm pregnant."

Elizabeth gasped joyfully. "Oh, Emily—I'm so happy for you! Do you know how far along you are yet?"

"Only eight weeks, but you're my mother, and I wanted to tell you." Emily raked her nails over her lower midriff. "I've also never made it this far before."

"I have a good feeling about this one."

Emily laughed nervously. "It's a good thing you're sitting down because there's more."

"Did you finally run off and marry that Jennifer girl you told me about?"

Emily turned bright red, and Elizabeth laughed because even though she couldn't see her daughter, she could imagine the look on her face.

"Well?" She wanted to know. "Did you?"

"No, and this isn't about _her! _It's about _me!"_

"Then I'm all ears."

"When the doctor did an ultrasound on me, she found _two_ babies in there—I'm, uh, having _twins."_

In that moment, Elizabeth wasn't sure if she could get any happier. "Emily, tell me where you are, and I'll send a town car to come get you!"

"I'm at Saint Vincent's with JJ because she got hit hard in this case, literally and figuratively."

Elizabeth immediately grew concerned. She knew that Emily cared about everyone on her team, but of she'd stayed behind to mind JJ while everyone went back to Virginia, then their bond had to be very special—more so than she'd previously suspected.

"What happened to her?"

"JJ got roughed up by a suspect and was deprived of any food or water for over a day."

"How is she at the moment?"

"Weary, but working on regaining her strength. At least her baby is okay."

"Excuse me? Jennifer is pregnant, too?"

Dang it, Emily thought. Hopefully JJ doesn't beat my ass later.

"Yes, and that's half the reason I'm looking after her. The rest is complicated, and other her, myself, and a very small pool of people, you're the only other person who knows, and we want to keep things discreet."

"I completely understand." Elizabeth promised. "Shall I be expecting you two for Thanksgiving, or however long you have off?"

"Absolutely. We really need some time to recuperate after this case."

"Will Jennifer be up for a visit tomorrow?"

"For sure, and she really wants to meet you."

"Isn't that sweet? Does she like flowers?"

"Yes, but she's allergic to roses."

"Just like you." Elizabeth mused. "I'll call you in the morning, Emily. I love you."

"I love you, too, mother."

Emily hung up and headed back upstairs to JJ's room where she saw that a set of blankets and pillows had been set out for her on the bed by the window. Before settling in for the night, Emily went and kissed JJ on the forehead as she slept.

"I love you, Jayje," Emily whispered as she then planted a kiss on JJ's bump. "And I love you, too, little baby bird. We can't wait to meet you and your siblings."

Of course, the baby was way too little to have its movements be felt from the outside, but JJ immediately dreaming of happier things because she could sense that her love was near.

Emily kissed JJ one more time before crossing the room to make up her bed. She fell asleep dreaming of the next time she and JJ would be able to lay together in a bed big enough for both of them.

* * *

><p>The following morning, JJ and Emily were paid a visit by Zoe, Lorelei, Emma, and their children, all of whom were fit to be discharged. JJ had fun, holding Ariel, Juliet, and Milo one more time. This was going to be a case that was going to stay with her for the rest of her life, but one of the few that would stay with her for the right reasons: the babies, and their happy, thankful mothers.<p>

"Oh, I can't wait until we hold our babies." JJ said when they had all gone.

"Well, don't hold your breath, babe." Emily sat with her on the bed. "We've got awhile yet."

"Yeah, yeah." JJ griped. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Emily was unfastening her necklace and fixing it back around JJ's neck.

"Returning this." Emily secured the chain and traced it with a finger. "I kept it safe."

"Thank you." JJ's hand fell to the phone built into her bed. "Have you called Elizabeth yet?"

Emily nodded. "I called her while you were sleeping last night. When are you going to tell your parents?"

"At Christmastime, when we go see them. Calling them now means that I'd have to tell them about Daniel, and I still have to tell _him_ about the baby because I wouldn't feel right if I didn't." JJ sighed shakily. "Besides, you and I will both be in the safe zone by Christmas."

"Good plan, but about telling people…"

JJ raised an eyebrow. "Emily Sandrine, who did you tell?"

"My mother, but it slipped out." Emily squeaked, not liking the sound of JJ middle-naming her in a stern tone. "I didn't tell her they we're a couple, or about Daniel; just that we're both pregnant and that I'm carrying twins."

"You're lucky." JJ teased her.

"She's also looking forward to having us over for Thanksgiving. I bet she's going to go all out and have the cleaning staff make up a room for you."

"Jesus Christ. What NYC neighborhood are you from, Emmy-cat?"

Before Emily could answer, JJ's doctor came in to give her and the baby a check-up. There was only one real update by the time everything was done: although JJ couldn't be released any sooner, she was allowed to move up to solid food, and she was relieved of a good number of the wires attached to her middle, now that the baby was out of the woods.

* * *

><p>"Keep that up, Em. Please."<p>

Happily chowing down on pancakes, JJ had her midriff exposed while Emily wiped it down with warm water and a towel. The paper patches that had been on JJ's middle ended up leaving behind a sticky residue when Emily peeled them off. JJ was uncomfortable by the texture, so Emily pacified her with ordering pancakes from the cafeteria for her to eat while she cleaned her up.

"Your wish is my command, princess."

Honestly, Emily couldn't keep her hands off JJ not only because they were a couple, but also because she thought that JJ was an adorable mama-to-be.

"Em, did you bring your mani/pedi kit?"

Regretfully, Emily had finished her task and was now drying JJ's belly off. "Yes, actually."

As a joke because Emily wasn't as girly as she was, JJ had given her a mani/pedi kit awhile ago. Emily kept it in her go bag, just in case.

"Excellent. The second we get settled at your mother's place, I'm giving you a mani/pedi."

"But—" Emily began to protest, but JJ wasn't having it.

"None of that, my love." JJ smirked as she fixed her garment properly on herself. "You're spoiling me, so I'm going to spoil you. Comprendere?"

Impressed with JJ slipping in some Italian, Emily matched it with some of her own. "Sì, amante."

JJ echoed the last word, liking the sound of it. "Amante—what does that mean?"

"It means lover." Emily kissed JJ on the cheek. "There's your new Italian word of the day."

_DING!_

Emily's phone chirped, so she picked it up to see a text from her mother.

_I need to drop some things off at home and then I'll be along after. Is that alright?_

Emily sent a response quickly. _Absolutely. How long do you think it'll take until you're here?_

_25 minutes, total. Make sure Jennifer doesn't feel pressured to impress me. She should be herself._

* * *

><p>"Okay, who was that?" JJ asked, putting aside her now-empty plate and used fork. "Elizabeth?"<p>

"Yep." Emily stood and disposed of JJ's things for her. "She's going to be here in twenty-five minutes, and she made a point for me to tell you not to feel pressured to impress her."

JJ immediately let out a breath of relief. "Will you at least help me look decent?"

"Of course, babe. Hold on."

* * *

><p>Exactly twenty-five minutes later, JJ was feeling decent—or as decent as one could feel in the hospital—and watched as Ambassador Prentiss hugged Emily and then fussed over her baby bump for a minute before coming to sit at her bedside.<p>

"Hello, Ambassador." JJ extended a hand for a handshake. "It's nice to meet you."

Elizabeth returned the handshake, chuckling. "Likewise, Jennifer, but please: call me Lizzie."

Behind Elizabeth, Emily mouthed "Told you!" at JJ.

"You've got a deal," JJ smiled. "So long as you call me JJ—only my mom call me Jennifer, and that's when she doesn't want to lose an argument."

Elizabeth leaned back in her chair, already amused. "Tell me, JJ—do you know Emily's full name?"

"Emily Sandrine Prentiss."

"Very good, although you've left a name out."

Realizing where the conversation was headed, Emily turned red and immediately tried to distract JJ with the vase of bright flowers that Elizabeth had brought.

"Look, Jayje: mother brought you windflowers, and I didn't even tell her!"

JJ lit up at the sight of the vase and smelled them. Elizabeth was touched by the scene.

"What is it that Emily didn't tell me?"

JJ gave the flowers one last whiff before Emily went to put them back. "Wildflowers are my absolute favorite flower."

"Looks like I'm a good guesser, then." Elizabeth winked. "Now I'll tell you the name that Emily gave herself on her Confirmation Day."

"Yes, please."

"Mariana."

"Awww, that's just beautiful."

"I think so, too." Elizabeth turned to her daughter, who had been watching her loved ones interact. "You see, Emily Sandrine Mariana? Even JJ likes your name!"

Emily couldn't help but smile. "Okay—I'll stop complaining about it, but Jayje?"

Emily directed her conversation from her mother to her girlfriend, who promptly looked up at the sound of her name.

"Yes?"

"While we're on the subject of names and flowers and things, why don't you tell mother your whole name?"

"My full name, Lizzie," JJ said when Elizabeth looked expectantly at her. "Is Jennifer Amaryllis Mae Jareau."

Now it was Elizabeth's turn to light up. _"My_ favorite flower is the amaryllis."

And just like that, JJ knew that Elizabeth Prentiss was going to be a very good friend.

* * *

><p>JJ truly enjoyed the ambassador's company and found that despite the horror stories that Emily had regaled her with about her childhood, Elizabeth was as warm and cuddly as her daughter.<p>

"Oh!" Elizabeth said suddenly as she remembered something. "I found some interesting things while I was out today that made me think of the two of you."

"Really?" Emily asked as she sat with JJ on the bed so they could both be closer to her.

"Yes." Elizabeth chirped, handing each of them a gift bag. "Here you go."

JJ's bag had a rainbow pattern on it, and she pulled out a stuffed elephant, made of soft green plush

"Lizzie, thank you!" JJ gave the ambassador's hand a gentle squeeze. "This is very thoughtful, and the toy is so cute!"

Elizabeth grinned, quite pleased with herself. "I'm glad you like it, darling."

JJ put the toy on top of her bump and looked down at it. "How about that, little one? You just got your first stuffed animal."

Beside JJ, Emily pulled out an orange lion and a turquoise-and-cream colored giraffe out of her polka-dotted gift bag. Emily hugged the toys close, deeply touched. She knew her mother loved her, but when she was a kid, things were hard, what with Elizabeth raising her on her own. Elizabeth had stumbled around in the dark with how to show her daughter proper affection, but now that Emily was an adult, they were making strides to improve things.

She gave the toys to JJ to hold and then hugged Elizabeth.

"Mother, thank you; we really appreciate it!"

"You're quite welcome, too, Emily." Elizabeth smiled at her daughter and then checked the time on the nearby wall clock. "I have to go, but give me a ring when JJ is ready to be discharged so I can send a car, alright?"

"Okay, mother. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Elizabeth said her goodbyes to JJ, too, and after her departure, JJ was left feeling warm and fuzzy, just like how she felt around her own mother.

"I—Em? You okay?"

Emily looked like she'd been deep in thought, but she gave JJ a kiss on the forehead and an "I'll be right be right back" before leaving the room to catch up with her mother.

"Emily." Elizabeth said when her daughter joined her by the elevators. "Did I forget something?"

"No, but," Emily said as they boarded the elevator together when it opened. "You clearly adore JJ, and that makes me incredibly happy, but what what about papa and daddy?"

Elizabeth pressed the button for the first floor and watched the doors shut before the lift descended. 'Papa and daddy' was how Emily referred to her fathers in plural when she wanted to know something about both of them.

"They would've loved her just as much as I do."

"Yeah?"

Elizabeth nodded as they disembarked the elevator when it opened again. "Oh yes, and they would've both been tickled that you and JJ got pregnant at the same time without even planning it."

"We can hardly believe it, ourselves."

They were out on the sidewalk now, curbside. "You love Jennifer, don't you?"

"I've never loved anyone more than her or as deeply as her."

"Do you want to marry her?"

"She just getting out of a bad relationship with her baby's father, but yes." Emily nodded. "I want nothing more than to make her happy, marry her, and have a family with her."

It didn't take Elizabeth more than five minutes with Emily and JJ together to know that they were a newly-established couple, so she didn't ask any questions about that.

"Love at first sight?"

"Yes." Emily nodded. "I'm going home with her at Christmastime to meet her family."

"I see. Where exactly is home for our Jennifer Amaryllis Mae?"

"A blink-and-you-miss-it town in Pennsylvania."

"Does she know where _you_ grew up?"

"Not entirely, no."

"Well, make sure that she doesn't freak out when you bring her home."

Elizabeth hailed a cab and one pulled up almost immediately. Emily opened the cab door for her and saw her in.

"I'll take care of her, mother." Emily promised her. "Don't worry."

"I won't, then." Elizabeth smiled and patted her hand. "See you soon."


	9. Families

To wile away the time, Emily and JJ mostly talked. Eventually, their talk turned to family.

"Do you have any aunts or uncles?" JJ asked Emily.

"Sadly, no. My mother is an orphan, and an only child, to boot. My dads' parents have all been gone for years, and as far as I know, no siblings for any of them."

"That's a real bummer."

Emily nodded. "And the siblings I _did_ have all died in the same accident that took my dad."

"Emily, I am so sorry."

"Their names were Atticus, Ophelia, and Imogen—triplets."

JJ let out a single-noted whistle. "No wonder you're carrying twins."

"Mother has always told me that they picked out my names and at they were over the moon to meet me."

Emily splayed her fingers over her bump and looked sad, no doubt thinking of what life would've been like with an older brother and older sisters who were getting ready to spoil her completely rotten.

Unwilling to let Emily wallow in what could have been for too much longer, JJ changed gears. "I know Christmas is a few weeks away, but would you like a crash course on my family?"

Predictably, Emily perked up at this. "Yes, please."

"Well, my dad was called Bruce, and Rossi reminds me a lot of him."

"Oh, really?"

"He taught U.S. history at the high school in town, and when I was little, I'd sit on his lap while he graded papers and explained the subject to me. Looking though the textbooks with him was one of my most favorite things to do."

"That's adorable."

JJ grinned. "My mom is named Cassandra-Jean, but she prefers to be called Sandy."

"What does she do?"

"She's a children's librarian at the public library in my hometown, and she's been at it since before I was born. Mom said I learned to walk in that building."

"And that's as adorable as the memories that you have with your dad. What was Rosaline like?"

"Beautiful, warm, kind, and such a dreamer. She always wanted to go to Paris, but she never made it, so in my senior of high school—before I officially looked into joining the FBI—my teachers presented me with a chance to study abroad in Paris because I had the top marks in my advanced French class, and I took it."

"For your sister?"

"For my sister." JJ confirmed and changed tracks again. "My stepdad is called Rex O'Day, and he married my mom when I was twenty-two."

"What does he do?"

"He's a children's author, and his books are huge overseas."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "Where's he from?"

"Dublin, and his parents are actually still there."

"Okay, so that's your parents; what about your brothers? Wesley, and Bartholomew, right?"

"Yeah. Most people think they're twins, but they're nine months apart."

"Yikes. I can't imagine what _that_ must have been like." Emily cringed. "It's a good thing we're both pregnant this time around."

JJ smiled at Emily's use of 'this time around' because it meant that she wanted more kids at some point.

"According to mom, she and dad wanted kids close together, but they just didn't bank on three who were back-to-back-to back."

Emily tried to do the math. "How far apart was Rosaline from Bartholomew?"

"Eight months."

"And you came six years post-Rosaline because what, your parents wanted one more to round things out?"

"That's exactly why."

Emily just nodded, thinking about something she'd been sitting on since they'd first confessed their feelings for each other, so JJ said her name gently.

"Emily?"

"Hm?"

"H-how many kids do we want?"

At that question, Emily felt her heart fill up with joy and surprise. She tried to say something, but nothing came out and seeing this, JJ moved over and invited her onto the bed. Emily accepted the invitation and let JJ rub her chest soothingly.

"I'm sorry if that's too much right now." JJ said softly.

Emily shook her head and kept JJ's hand in place. "It's just that I've never been with anyone who wanted to seriously ask me that question, but hearing the question from _you_ makes me happier than words can say."

"Awww."

"I love you, Jayje, and I want _so_ much with you."

_"How_ much?"

"Everything: happiness, joy, love, adventures, a big house, more kids, and… if it doesn't freak you out, marriage. Sometimes when you meet that special someone, things just… click…"

JJ nodded in agreement and caressed Emily's face. "Because that's what happened with us—I feel it, too. And Emily?"

"Yes?"

"One day, but not just yet, I would _love_ be your wife."

Emily's heart nearly jumped out of her chest; she really hadn't expected JJ to be so open to the idea that quickly.

"And I do know how many kids I want with you," JJ continued. "But you can't freak out because I don't mean for this number to happen right away."

"How many are you thinking, then?"

"Six."

Emily's eyes widened only a little bit. "Six, huh? That sounds like fun, but why _that_ number?"

"Can I tell you a secret, babe?"

"Of course."

"Including Rosaline, I've got five siblings."

"Five?"

"Yes." JJ held up one finger for each sibling as she counted. "It goes Wesley, Bartholomew, Rosaline, me, and my stepsisters, Sinéad and Caitlín."

"Is Rex the father of Sinéad and Caitlín?"

JJ nodded. "They're identical twins, and totally inseperable, even at the age of twenty-four."

"Where's their mom?"

"Eva passed away in the delivery room, so they never met her properly."

"What do Sinéad and Caitlín do?"

"They're live-in nannies, actually, and they always work together. They've just had to stop their most recent job because that family moved to New Zealand."

"Wow." Emily laid on her back, tracing shapes over her middle. "What are they like, personality-wise?"

"They're both members of Mensa, and could easily give both Spencer and Penelope a run for their money because they're both actual genuises."

Emily shuddered at the prospect of their own team geniuses meeting their equals and JJ laughed at her.

"They're both eccentric, but Sinéad would charm the socks right off Penelope because she's a whizz with computers, and sweet Caitlín would be Spencer's new best friend, what with the amount of really random trivia and statistics she's got packed away in her noggin. In fact, she seriously considered joining the FBI at one point."

"What stopped her?"

"She was diagnosed with high-functioning autism in high-school, and something like that is an instant disqualification. Caitlín is really, really smart, but she's just… different."

"Okay."

Emily was getting lost in thought again, so JJ propped herself up on her side and put a hand on Emily's shoulder.

"What is it? Why are you so interested in Sinéad and Caitlín?"

Emily turned and held JJ's gaze. "What if we hired them to be nannies for our kids?"

"I like that," JJ said as her heart skipped a beat. "But we don't live together."

"No, but we could."

JJ didn't even know what to say, so Emily plowed on.

"I mean, I do have a bigger place than you do, so maybe after you officially break things off with Daniel, you could move in with me and we could go house-hunting before the babies come."

"I like the sound of that, and my lease is almost up, anyway. The twins would love a chance like this."

JJ snuggled closer to Emily and sighed sleepily. True, she'd been relieved of most of her medical equipment and was being weaned off her painkillers, but she was still on oxygen and that, combined with her medicine was making her sleepy.

"Are you getting tired?" Emily asked.

"Yeah…"

Emily stroked JJ's hair and made soothing noises. "Then sleep, amante."

"Don't go…"

JJ fell asleep in mid-sentence with a hand fisted in the cloth of Emily's shirt, so Emily couldn't move, even if she wanted to.

* * *

><p>The next day was Wednesday, otherwise known as JJ's discharge day, and she was more than happy to be leaving the hospital.<p>

What really surprised her was that not only did Elizabeth send for a town car just like she'd said she would, but she also paid off all of the medical expenses and instructed the driver to come take their luggage so their only real concern would be Emily wheeling JJ out of the hospital in her wheelchair.

When they were in the car, heading towards the Prentiss residence, JJ kept rubbing at her nose.

"Are you having an allergic reaction to something?" Emily asked her.

JJ sneezed. "No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes—you try having an oxygen tube in your nose for almost three days." JJ sneezed again. "It sucks, and I'm still trying to get used to it not being there."

JJ sneezed yet again and Emily giggled.

"What's the matter with you, Em, laughing at my misery?"

"You're just really cute when you sneeze."

JJ turned red at this and didn't say anything, but that was just as well because Emily got distracted but the sight outside the window tapped her on the shoulder.

"Oh, Jayje, we're home!"

JJ looked out of the window at the building her girlfriend was pointing at and her her mouth dropped open in surprise.

"But that's…"

"The Plaza Hotel, yep." Emily nodded as the chauffeur pulled into the underground parking lot and parked.

"This you grew up?"

"Mhm, and we lived here between my mother's postings, although after what happened in Italy, I was too emotionally distraught to stay, so we came back and I finished out high school at a school just a few blocks from here."

By 'what happened in Italy,' JJ knew Emily was talking about her abortion. If she'd had the baby, it would be around the same age as Sinéad and Caitlín.

"Come on, babe." JJ rubbed Emily's thigh to get her back to the present as she heard the driver turn off the car and exit so he could come around to open their door for them. "Come show me where you grew up!"

Emily turned bright and sunny in a heartbeat again. "Okay! Let's go!"


	10. Room 10F

**30+ followers and counting every time I post, but only 1 review on the last chapter? Not all of you can be that be that shy; please, a few of you show me something because it feels like I'm writing to an emptying room!**

* * *

><p>Once the two agents entered the hotel, Emily was immediately greeted by a female concierge at the front desk who was old enough to be her mother.<p>

"Emily, dear, is that you?"

So happy was this woman to see Emily that she came out from behind her desk and swept her up in a motherly hug.

"Your mother mother said you'd be coming home!"

"Aunt Natalia," Emily put a hand in the small of JJ's back as she made introductions. "This is my girlfriend, JJ. We work together, and she'll be staying with us over Thanksgiving until we have to go back to Virginia."

"I understand." Natalia turned to JJ and when she spoke, JJ immediately noticed the older woman had a lilting Russian accent. "How lovely to meet you, sweet JJ. I've known Emily for her entire life, and I chased her through these halls for more years than I care to remember."

"Did Emily have a prankster streak?"

"She _still_ has it." Natalia winked.

Emily coughed noisily. "Still here!"

"Okay, okay, little goose." Natalia patted Emily on the cheek and shook her head in amusement before turning back to JJ. "You may call me Aunt Natalia since you are Emily's family now, and if you need anything, just let me know."

"Thank you."

Natalia turned to Emily. "I will give your mother a ring once you two get in the lift, alright? It's really good to see you."

Emily gave her one last hug and showed JJ towards the other end of the lobby toward the elevator.

"Em," JJ said as they boarded the lift a few moments later. "How have we never seen this part of you before?"

Emily shrugged and pressed the number 10 button on the button panel, making the doors close and the elevator ascend. "I guess that I was always been taught to play those kinds of details close to the vest. Mother and I come from family money, although phrasing it like that is an understatement."

"Your family has lived here for decades, huh?"

"Generations, more like. I am the fourth generation of Prentiss to live here."

JJ attempted to do some math and followed Emily out of the elevator and down the hallway. "Fourth generation? That must mean your family has been here since the nineteen-hundreds?"

"Very good." Emily complimented her. "My great-grandparents on my mother's part of the family tree were two of the first people in the history of The Plaza to live here permanently. They bought a room six months after the grand opening in 1907. My family has been here ever since."

"Wow." JJ marveled. "What did your great-grandparents do?"

"That's another story for another day because," they stopped in front of a door marked 10F and opened it. "We're here!"

JJ stepped through the door and she took her surroundings in, she realized they it was one of the most decadent homes she'd ever been in, which, considering her line of work, was really saying something.

She was immediately distracted by a young-looking housekeeper, who came up to them, speaking Russian. Understanding her, Emily handed her their coats and bags before leading her further into the apartment.

"That's Dasha—she's Aunt Natalia's granddaughter from Saint Petersburg, and she's been working for mother since she was eighteen."

"How old is she now? She looks the same age as my sisters."

"Dasha's twenty-four, and she's very nice, but english isn't her first language."

Emily looked around for Elizabeth and called out to her.

"Mother? We're here!"

Elizabeth emerged from a side room and perked up when she saw them. "Emily, JJ! How are you?"

"Good, mother." Emily chirped. "Thank you."

"And I'm just happy to be out of the hospital." JJ added.

"I can imagine so." Elizabeth sympathized. "Have you met Aunt Natalia?"

"Mhm. Dasha, too."

"Good. Why don't you let Emily give you the grand tour? Dasha made up Emily's room and the guest room, but you may sleep wherever you like."

"Thank you, Lizzie," was all JJ could say because she could see Elizabeth was feeling awkward.

"Don't mind her." Emily told her as they continued on. "You're the first I've ever brought home, and she just doesn't know what to do with herself."

JJ's heart skipped a beat when Emily mentioned the part about her being the first of her significant others to even see casa de la Prentiss. It made her feel incredibly special.

By the time the tour was over, JJ had seen the kitchen, dining room , the sitting room, the library, the office, Elizabeth's room, one of the spare bedrooms, two of the restrooms. JJ was very impressed.

"What do you think?" Emily asked her.

"Em, I love it." JJ told her honestly and then motioned to the door they were standing in front of. "Is this your bedroom?"

Emily nodded. "Atticus' room is the spare bedroom now, although it still has mementos of him. Ophelia and Imogen shared this room and I was to join them once we moved home from Beijing, but once they died with my dad and Atticus, it was just me in here."

JJ understood what Emily was driving at: even in the BAU, she kept a certain degree about herself. The room beyond the door was Emily at her most personal and basic level.

"Come on, babe." Emily opened the door for her. "This is my room."

Just as Elizabeth had said, the room was freshly made up, and once Emily turned on a lamp and opened the curtains, JJ looked around to see that the walls were a calming lavender tone and that her canopy bed frame, desk, and shelves were all made of black cherry wood. An unusually long mirror on the other side of the room near an ensuite bathroom suggested a walk-in closet while all throughout the room were keepsakes from Emily's growing-years—different ribbons and awards, old childhood toys, but what stood out to JJ the most was all of the books and framed photos.

"I know what you're thinking." Emily joined JJ as she sat on the blue bedspread. "You're thinking, 'What a lot of books and pictures.' I had friends, but I preferred my own company."

"No, I get it. Wes, Barty, and Rosie were all in college when Rosie died, and since I was eleven years old and the baby, anyway, I was downgraded to 'only child' status by default."

"How did you entertain yourself?"

"I read so many books, developed a photography habit, and my mom taught me how to knit."

"You knit?"

JJ nodded sheepishly and held a hand to her middle. "I fell out of the habit when I met Daniel because he belittles the hipster knitters—a social circle I fit in outside of work—but now I have a good reason to pick it back up."

"Silly—you have _three_ good reasons to pick knitting back up!" Emily gave JJ's knee a gentle squeeze and then collected some frames from her bedside table, handing the first batch to her. "Call me sentimental if you want, but these are some of my favorite pictures in the whole world. I even have a copied set in frames at home in Virginia."

JJ turned her attention to the frames in her hands and felt herself melting.

The first picture was one of the whole team in a bar, unwinding after a long case in Arizona, as JJ recalled, based on the bar's decorations. The case had ended well, thankfully, and it had all strengthened them as a team but brought them closer together as the weird, beautiful, unorthodox family that they were. JJ also remembered that it was the first time that she'd really connected with Emily as a friend.

The second picture was of her, Emily, and Penelope at one of their many movie nights. The picture had started as a selfie, but she and Penelope had jumped in at the last second, effectively surprising Emily, but causing the trio to burst into giggles as she took the shot.

The last picture amused JJ on many levels. This one was taken at a different bar than the first picture, but this one featured Emily clowning around with Spencer and Derek, but surprisingly, Hotch and Rossi, too.

"Em, these are precious," JJ handed them back. "And there is nothing wrong with being sentimental."

Emily carefully put the frames back and handed JJ the next set. "Then here—meet the rest of my family. We already know that mother and Aunt Phoebe love you, but mother has told me that everyone else would have _really_ loved you."

JJ examined the first picture to see a very pregnant and happy Elizabeth walking hand-in-hand down a beach with an equally-happy man who bore quite a resemblance to Emily, which could only mean one thing…

"Is that your dad?" JJ asked.

"Yeah." Emily smiled fondly. "His name was Henry, and that was taken on his and mother's last wedding anniversary during the Beijing years. It's my favorite picture of all three of us."

JJ felt herself melting more, but she maintained her composure and looked at the next picture. Emily was toddler and all dolled up for an outing and was grinning at the camera as she sat up on the hip of a handsome man who was dressed in a tuxedo and looking just as happy.

"Is this you and your stepdad?"

Emily nodded. "His name was James, and that was taken on my birthday; he took me to see my first Broadway show. According to mother, they wanted to give me at least one more sibling, but things never ended up working in their favor, so they made up for it by spoiling me rotten."

JJ set the first two frames aside and looked at the last one. "Are these your siblings?"

JJ was looking at a trio young school-aged children, all of whom had fair skin, dark hair, and big brown eyes, just like Emily. They were all dressed in school uniforms and smiling for the camera. One thing JJ noticed right off the bat was that two of the kids were supporting the one in the middle, holding her hands, because she had metal braces on her legs.

"Imogen developed a little slower in the womb than Atticus and Ophelia did, and she was the smallest of the trio, so she learned how to walk a little bit later. Mother says that the other two doted on her and encouraged her all the time."

"That's really sweet." JJ smiled. "Were they getting ready for school in this picture?"

Emily nodded again. "That's one of the last pictures of them, but mother gave it to me because she found me looking at it all the time. They and my dad were gone about a month later; it was a car accident."

By the time Emily got to the end of that explanation, she was in tears and apologizing for it, so JJ carefully set the pictures back on the bedside table and then sat with Emily, holding her and kissing her tears.

"Hey," she cooed. "It's okay to be sad about them, Emily. I know how you feel. I do."

Emily hugged JJ, thankful for her. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome, amante." JJ kissed Emily on the forehead and then smiled at her, wiping her tears. "Now—how about we do something fun, hm?"

Emily actually laughed because she knew where this was going. "You were serious about that mani/pedi, then?"

"You bet. Where did Dasha put our bags?"

* * *

><p>One full manipedi later, JJ and Emily were both completely relaxed and content. The two were camped out on the spacious window-seat in the living room, and when they heard Dasha wish them a happy holiday as she went home, JJ glanced at the time and was a little taken aback.

"Is it really six o'clock?"

Emily glanced at the clock, too. "Hm, I guess it is. You and baby bird hungry?"

Before JJ could answer, her stomach rumbled loudly, so she caressed the lower part it and chuckled. "That's a big yes. What about you, and Ladybug and Sprout?"

"We are, too." Emily answered as her own stomach rumbled right on cue. "Come on—let's go find mother."

They found her in the kitchen, cooking up a storm.

"Wow, mother." Emily teased Elizabeth. "I didn't know you could cook!"

Elizabeth playfully snapped a dishtowel in her offspring's direction. "Hush, Emily, or should I tell JJ about the time you almost burned the Honolulu kitchen down?"

Emily turned red. "I was ten and clumsy!"

"Say what you want, but I know what I saw." Elizabeth shot back. "Now go get out bowls, plates, forks, chopsticks, and spoons, please."

"What did you make?"

"Stir fry with sesame chicken, egg drop soup, and spring rolls. Dasha helped me to prepare everything, but she didn't have time to set the table before she left."

"Which set of chinaware should I get?"

"The good set—it isn't every day that my daughters and their family come for a visit."

Smiling at Elizabeth's choice of words, Emily left the kitchen, heading to the china cabinet in the dining room. JJ, meanwhile, was deeply touched by what Elizabeth had said.

"You called me your daughter, Lizzie."

"Of course I did." Elizabeth turned down the heat on one of the pots on the stove and looked at JJ, smiling. "You hold Emily's heart, Jennifer, and it's been _far_ too long since I've seen her this happy and _alive_ since she's been an adult."

"You're saying that _I_ did that?"

"Yes, and as a mother, it makes my heart happier than words can say. You saved her."

"She saved me, too."

Elizabeth gave JJ's hand a comforting squeeze. "Until she met you, she was all I had left—has she told you about what happened to Henry, James, and the triplets?"

"Yes—well, with Henry, Atticus, Imogen, and Ophelia, at least."

"Well, as for James, he died in a mugging on Emily's third birthday, trying to be a Good Samaritan. Emily was there, but it traumatized her so much that she's blocked out everything about, including her memories of James. I'll tell her about him when she asks, but I've never had the heart to tell her any real details about _how_ James died."

Elizabeth looked sad for a second, haunted, but she smiled again, just as quickly.

"But now you've brought my sweet girl back to life, and you two are even having a family together! How could I not consider you a daughter after all that?"

"Wow, Elizabeth." JJ was kind of stunned. "I don't know what to say except thank you."

"No, dear: thank _you."_ Elizabeth patted JJ's cheek in an affectionate way. "Please go join Emily, and I'll bring the food out soon."

JJ did as she was told and went to the dining room, taking a seat next to Emily.

"You two were in the kitchen for awhile." The brunette remarked.

"Yeah, well, your mother likes me."

"What did you talk about? Me almost burning down the kitchen at our house in Hawaii? I still maintain that that was an accident."

JJ smirked. "Lizzie didn't say anything about _that_ at _all."_

Emily breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Jesus."

Almost immediately following that statement, Elizabeth entered the room with her big pot of soup, and as she set it on the Lazy Susan in the middle of the table and began filling JJ's bowl, she scolded Emily in what sounded like Italian. Although JJ didn't understand the language well, it sounded like Elizabeth had said something like "Emily Sandrine Mariana, we do not use the Lord's name in vain!" because Emily was promptly apologizing (also in Italian) and busying herself with stirring her soup.

Satisfied, Elizabeth finished serving the soup and brought out the rest of the food, switching back to english when she finally joined Emily and JJ at the table.

"JJ, are you ready to hear that story about Emily?"

JJ lit up in delight and anticipation. "Oh, yes, and spare no details!"

And so, Elizabeth launched into a very amusing story they had JJ laughing happily in hardly any time at all while Emily tried to hide behind her own hair.

They were a family now, and none of them could be any happier.


	11. Thanksgiving Morn

In the wee early hours of Thanksgiving morning—before five o'clock, even—both Emily and JJ were with the poorly-named plague of morning sickness within an hour of each other, and by the time everything was over and they both felt decent again, they were more tired than they had been when they'd gone to bed.

"Babe," Emily murmured in the darkness as JJ snuggled back up to her when they got back in bed. "I don't know about you, but I'm all for adopting the next three so they that we don't have to go through morning sickness ever again."

"Good call." JJ's voice was already fading because she was falling back asleep already. "Time for sleep."

* * *

><p>Unfortunately, they only got a few more hours of sleep because the next thing Emily knew, JJ was kissing her awake, but focusing mostly on her petite bump. There was even some tongue action.<p>

"Wow, Jayje." Emily sighed blissfully as she opened her eyes all the way. "If you go any lower, I won't be able to keep from taking you right here."

"As much as I would love that, your phone is ringing, and I couldn't wake you any other way." JJ placed one last kiss on Emily's taut middle and then leaned against her chest to hear her heartbeat as she sat up and reached for her phone. "Answer it and tell whoever it is that we're not FBI agents right now."

Yeah, Emily thought as she wrapped an arm around JJ's waist and held her close. You're now my hot girlfriend, my best friend, my future wife, and you're carrying one of our children.

Making note of the time and who was calling, Emily finally answered her phone, although it was with a yawn. "Derek Booker Morgan, it is now _seven_ o'clock in the _morning_ here in the Big Apple, and a holiday, to boot! You'd better have a really good reason for calling!"

"What's Penelope's ring size?"

Emily sat up so suddenly at his question that JJ promptly fell off her with a startled cry of surprise.

"I—wait, what?" Emily was thrown for a loop.

"Is that JJ with you?" Derek asked, having recognized his blond friend's voice in the background.

"What?" Emily sputtered again. "What makes you think it's her?"

By this time, JJ had sat back up and crawled over to Emily, commandeering her phone and putting it on speaker.

"Yep, it's me—I went home with Emily for the holiday and I'm sharing a bed with her because we're a couple now, but if you tell anyone before we do, you're a dead man walking."

Derek chuckled in amusement; he loved Emily and JJ like sisters, and they could always make him laugh. "Got it."

"Now what was the question you asked Emily?"

"I asked her what Penelope's ring size is."

JJ let out a squeal of delight. She'd known for years that Derek and Penelope had the hots for each other, but ever since Penelope had ben shot, she'd noticed that the duo had finally gotten serious. Penelope had almost _died, _after all.

"You're going to propose to her?"

"Yes," Derek said happily. "And I even have the right ring to use, but I need to know her size, just in case."

Noticing that her own phone was ringing and that it was Penelope calling, JJ whispered the answer to Derek's original inquiry and got out of bed. Quickly throwing on a robe over her pajamas and heading out of the room, JJ didn't answer until she was out of earshot of Emily's room and settling on the couch with a blanket.

"Penelope, what's up?"

All JJ got in response was a stream of nervous Penelope-babble. She only caught phrases like 'new niece,' 'auntie,' and 'babies on the brain.'

"Okay, sweetie, you have to slow down." JJ yawned as she arranged the blanket over herself. _"Dogs_ can hear you."

Penelope caught JJ's drift and slowed down. "So you and I both know that Emily is pregnant, but you know how when you were brought to the hospital, it was my job to stay with Milo, Ariel, and Juliet until they could be with their mamas again?"

"Mhm."

"Fast forward to when Derek and I get to the House of Morgan here in Chicago, Sarah and her hubby are already here."

"Sarah is the oldest Morgan sister, if I'm remembering correctly, right?"

"Correctomundo, and Sarah's hubby is called Keifer." The tech analyst told her. "They have a beautiful baby girl now—five months old—by the name of Diamond. She's the softest and the cuddliest baby ever and she's curled up on my chest right now because she likes me and knows I'm her auntie—"

"Bring it on home, O Bespectacled One." JJ coached when she realized Penelope was rambling.

"Right." Penelope laughed nervously. "All of this talk about babies got me thinking about how Derek and I have been considering having our own baby in the next year or so—we're not exactly fans of doing things in order."

JJ felt her heart flutter a little faster than usual; she knew how badly her friends wanted a family. "Oh, Penelope, I'm so happy."

Penelope laughed again. "We have a couple names that we like, but Jayje… I'm pregnant now!"

"You're going to be a mom?" JJ felt like her heart was fit to explode with joy. "I'm so happy for you! When did you find out?"

"I took a test on the jet, and I haven't told the guys, but Derek's mom was able to guess within an hour of us being here."

JJ fought back a laugh when she realized that half the team was pregnant now. They never did anything halfway, did they? No wonder Strauss thought of them as her Tribe Of Weirdos.

"Is this a good thing?"

"Oh, it's a really good thing, Tinkerbell." Penelope reassured her. "I'm just kind of in shock. Maybe I can slip out to a clinic before dinner to get it confirmed because I haven't had a chance yet—"

"PG, you're starting to ramble again." JJ laughed. "Can I just say one thing?"

"Of course."

"Congratulations on your baby. You and Derek are going to be wonderful parents."

"Thank you." JJ could almost hear Penelope smile as she said that. "I'll send you a picture of Diamond after this, how's that?"

"Okay. You go have a good Thanksgiving, Penelope, and give Diamond a hug for me!"

"Can do!" Penelope chirped. "Bespectacled One over and out!"

They hung up and a few seconds later, JJ's phone chirped with a picture sweet little Diamond, although all JJ could see of the dark-skinned baby since her back was to her was that she was in a pink sleeper with a matching cap and scrunched up in a ball on Penelope's chest, supported at the bottom by Penelope's arm.

JJ looked down at her middle and undid robe so she could smooth the material of her pajama top over it. There wasn't anything much to see because because she was little yet, but in a few more days, she'd be at nine weeks, and her clothes were going to be even more snug around the middle than they already were.

"Well, how about that, baby bird?" JJ pocketed her phone and glided a hand over her small bump. "You and Sprout and Ladybug are going to be getting a cousin from Aunt Penelope and Uncle Derek!"

"So Derek is going to propose to Penelope, and Penelope is pregnant?"

Emily had entered the room and joined her on the couch.

"That is correct, and Penelope is also over the moon because she and Derek have a new niece, and I'm pretty sure she's the first Morgan grandchild."

Emily smiled and propped JJ's feet up in her lap, starting a massage on one. "Nothing is ever quiet in the BAU family, is it?"

"Hardly ever, but you've gotta be used to it by now."

"Yeah, somewhat." JJ let out a sigh of contentment when Emily began massaging her feet. "What do you and Elizabeth do for Thanksgiving?"

"Usually, I go join her in whatever country she's posted in."

"But…?"

_"But,"_ Emily sighed. "Last year when she was in beautiful Vancouver, I got stuck stateside in my office at work, eating Chinese takeout while navigating a bunch of case files. The year before that, though, she was in Jamaica for a year, and I got to spend Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's with her."

JJ raised her eyebrows. "Quite a vacation, Emmy-cat."

"My boss told me that if I didn't use even a small portion weeks and weeks and weeks of the vacation time I had saved up, I'd have heaps of paperwork to do in regards to it. I was gone for a month, and it was heaven."

"Jamaica sounds heavenly." JJ mused. "The only countries I've been to are France, England, and Ireland. I've never been anywhere like the Caribbean before."

"Maybe," Emily said shyly. "We can go after we get married."

JJ felt her heart turn over at the mention of marriage. "You mean like for our honeymoon destination? I'd like that."

"Good morning, you two!"

Elizabeth had walked into the room, ready for the day, even though it wasn't even yet nine o'clock.

"How did you two sleep?"

"Other than both of us getting hit with morning sickness before dawn," JJ griped. "We're fine."

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose in sympathy as she remembered her own pregnancies and the morning sickness had hit her. "Well, don't either of you be afraid to ask me for help. I've been there—twice, you know."

Thankful, but desperate for a change in topic, Emily posed a question to her mother. "What are we going to do for Thanksgiving since we're here? The usual?"

"Of course."

Emily groaned. "Really?"

"Really, really." Elizabeth confirmed, kissing her firstborn on the top of her head. "I'm going to be tagging along to supervise because JJ's probably never been to something like this, and I will not having you encourage her to duck out early."

"Oh, alright."

"Good girl." Elizabeth gave Emily a gentle nudge, prompting her to stand up. "You and JJ go make yourselves ready for the day while I make breakfast. Gustavo will come collect us at eleven."

Gustavo was their chauffeur.

"Okay, mother."

Satisfied, Elizabeth headed off to the kitchen.

"What the hell just happened?" JJ asked Emily.

"Mother must have pulled strings, but it looks like we're going shopping."

"Are we, now?"

Emily nodded. "Every Thanksgiving that mother and I in Manhattan, we always go to a Thanksgiving dinner in Palm a Court; it's very fancy. There's a black-and-white ball, too."

JJ lit up in delight: as one who had in lived in—and escaped from—a small town, she'd only ever imagined of attending events at places like The Plaza, but to be able to go to a _ball, _of all things, with the love of her life? It was literally a dream come true!

"A _ball? _I've never been to a _ball_ before!"

Emily smiled at JJ's enthusiasm and wondered if she knew just how adorable she was. "Really? You've never even been to an FBI gala?"

"Well, I've been to plenty of _those,_ even way back when I was a probationary agent, but I've never been to anything like that with you!"

Elizabeth called to them from the kitchen. "Why don't I hear either of you going to get ready?"

JJ burst into giggles as Emily called back, "We're going, mother, don't you worry!"

As Emily and JJ got up and headed back to Emily's room, JJ wondered what the day had in store off them.

Whatever it was, it sounded like fun.


	12. Thanksgiving Night

**To my nonnie: you can stop breathing into a paper bag ;) I assure you, I have plans, but this is just my first dive into the Criminal Minds fandom. I'm still learning ;)**

**To Bkwrmchar & Lktwh13: your enthusiasm warms my heart :)**

* * *

><p>Eleven o'clock rolled around eventually, and just as Elizabeth had said, Gustavo arrived and dropped them off at a shopping boutique on Fifth Avenue. JJ had never been inside a shopping establishment so luxurious, and just in the first two minutes, she was falling in love with it.<p>

JJ opted to be the one to wear black, and after a good search, she'd found the dress she wanted and talked to Emily from behind a changing room door as she tried it on, but in a very abrupt manner, went quiet in mid-sentence.

Elizabeth and their personal shopper both left the room quickly.

"Jayje?" Emily approached the door and knocked on it. "You okay?"

There was no immediate verbal response, but JJ opened the door, allowing Emily to enter.

"What's the matter?" Emily asked, closing the door behind her.

JJ quickly snapped out of it. "The last time I was in a changing room, I didn't know when I'd see you again, and within twenty-four hours, I was getting physically abused and starved."

Ever since they'd extracted her from that house in Queens at the end of the mission, Emily had been anticipating some kind of PTSD or flashback for JJ because despite the brave front she'd put up, this case had gotten to her.

"I know that your body is a bit sore in some places yet, sweetheart, but Grisha and every last person who worked for him are in jail now. They're never, _ever_ getting out. You're _safe."_

JJ let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. "I'm safe, and they're in jail. You and I are happy together."

"That's right."

JJ flashed Emily a smile. "What would I do without you, Em?"

"For starters," Emily said as she circled around to the back to do up the zipper and the sash. "You'd have nobody to do this for you. There."

Already in the white dress that she quite liked and knew she was going to purchase, Emily stood behind JJ and wrapped her arms around her waist as they looked at their reflections in the mirror.

JJ was wearing a black short-sleeved empire-waisted evening gown that fell near to the ground, almost obscuring her feet. With help of the sash, the dress hugged JJ in all the right places, and for a minute, Emily's mind wandered as she thought of how they'd both look when they were really showing.

Naturally, JJ was on the same wavelength as Emily. "Am I showing?"

They both knew it was impossible, but JJ still couldn't help asking.

"No; you're just feeling a little out of countenance, but that's okay."

Emily came back around and framed her middle for JJ.

"Look at this, though—nearly nine weeks, and I'm already showing like I'm further along than that." (They both knew that Emily was already showing the way she was because this wasn't her first pregnancy) "JJ, I'm going to be as huge as a whale by the time they come!"

"Yeah, but you know I'll be there for you." JJ took Emily by the hand and opened the door. "Now let's go find Elizabeth."

* * *

><p>Emily and JJ decided to keep the dresses they were wearing, and Elizabeth wouldn't let them leave without getting the appropriate accessories and shoes, too. And since they both knew better than to argue with the ambassador, they added those things to the pile, as well.<p>

Later on, when they were getting ready for the ball, they found out that JJ was better at doing hair, so she quickly took the helm on that.

"How did you learn to do hair so well?" Emily watched in the mirror as JJ shaped out an elaborate fishtail heidi-braid hairstyle.

"Rosaline taught me; she was really into hair." JJ guided Emily to keep looking at the mirror when her attention started wandering. "Please keep still, babe."

"Sorry." Emily apologized quickly. "Here's another question: what do we want this time around, as far as the babies are concerned, I mean."

"Besides three happy and healthy little darlings? I haven't really thought about it yet." JJ confessed. "At least one son would be nice, though."

"Oh, really? What are your brothers like?"

"They're protective of me, through and through, but Wesley does accounting at a firm in Montana, and Bartholomew is now the principal at the high school my dad worked at—which is the same one that me, the boys, Rosie, and even Sinéad and Caitlín all graduated from."

Emily raised her eyebrows and watched as JJ wove a white ribbon into her dark locks. "Are you saying that your brothers are _boring, _Jayje?"

"I love them both, but they can both be a smidge boring on occasion, yes."

"And if we have one son—or two or three—what would you want him or them to do?"

"Something that encourages them to live a little. Hold out some bobby pins for me." Emily did as she was told and JJ began pinning the braid to Emily's head. "One of my first memories as a wee thing is of the boys comparing their pocket protectors. Rosie taught me the word lame because of that… mom and dad were actually amused and didn't try to discourage me from saying it."

Emily stifled a giggle. "That's hilarious and adorable at the same time."

JJ kissed Emily on the top of her head. "Whatever we end up having, we'll make sure that they're not boring—which I'm sure they never will be, not with Penelope and Derek's baby so close in age, or with Jack Hotchner watching over them all."

"Four of them haven't even been born yet, and they're a posse already."

"Don't let Penelope hear you say that—she'll figure out a way to get them all matching hoodies."

"Good point, but I promise that I'm down with being creative to make sure that the kids have lots of excitement in their lives."

Emily looked again at herself in the mirror when she saw JJ had finished.

"I'm also down with this hairstyle. Wow."

The communications liaison had woven in a white gold-flecked ribbon into the braid to offset the black of Emily's dress, and the Emily had to admit, it was one of the fanciest and neatest braids she'd ever had. JJ was even sporting the same hairstyle, although instead of a white ribbon, she had a black one.

"Although," JJ remarked as they headed over to Emily's bathroom to start their makeup. "Just imagine all of the hair tricks I could teach you if we had _three_ daughters."

Emily groaned.

* * *

><p>"How do we look?" JJ asked Elizabeth as they all rode down in the elevator thirty-five minutes later.<p>

"You both look very beautiful." Elizabeth told her with complete sincerity as she brushed an imaginary wrinkle off the ambassadorial medals she had pinned to her own dress. "I remember you said earlier that you wanted to send a picture of yourself in your dress to your mother in Pennsylvania; did you manage it?"

"Yes, actually," JJ chirped. "And Emily was in it."

"Now they know what I'll look like when I come at Christmas." Emily joked.

JJ knew Emily was very nervous about meeting her family, but in the end, she suspected that it was because she literally couldn't remember the last time she'd experienced a traditional family gathering on Christmas Day.

"Would you quit worrying?" JJ told her, giving her a gentle back rub. "Everyone is going to love you, and we still have a _month_ before Christmas!"

"But—"

It was Elizabeth who interjected as the elevator doors opened and they disembarked. "It's time for you two to be on your best behavior!"

* * *

><p>The actual dinner went by in a flash and before JJ knew it, people had headed towards the dance floor when the band started to play, and Emily was inviting her out to dance with her.<p>

But JJ was being hesitant; it had been a long time since she'd been out on a proper dance floor and she was getting cold feet.

"Come on." Emily was holding a hand out to her. "If I can get the mighty and self-conscious _Aaron Hotchner _to dance with me at a _bar,_ on a _crazy_ dance floor, then I know I can get _you_ to dance with me at a _ball."_

JJ remembered the night in question because it had only been three weeks prior. Emily saw the blond's resolve crumble, so she tried again.

"Jennifer Amaryllis Mae Jaraeu, will you give me the honor of having this dance with me?"

JJ finally gave Emily her hand and let her pull her up. "Yes."

The song that the band was playing was a couples kind of song—Iris, by The Goo Goo Dolls—and the two were soon dancing with all the other couples. It didn't even matter to Emily and JJ they were the only non-traditional couple on the dance floor; all that mattered was that they were in love with each other and that they both knew they didn't want to spend the rest of their lives with anyone else.

* * *

><p>They stayed at the ball for quite awhile, enjoying the atmosphere, and JJ was even surprised to see that the mayor and a few important city politicians were attendance, but she was even more surprised that Elizabeth was on a first-name basis with all of them. She even took the took the time to introduce JJ to them, and when she did, she introduced JJ as her future daughter-in-law.<p>

From that moment on, JJ knew that to be considered as a daughter by one Prentiss and to be having a life and a family with the other was one of the most precious gifts that she'd ever been given.

* * *

><p>Almost as soon as JJ, Emily, and Elizabeth entered suite 10F, JJ heard her cell phone ringing. She'd left it in the living room, so when she saw that it was her mother calling, she didn't hesitate to answer it and go claim the window-seat, big dress and all.<p>

"Mom," JJ said happily. "You have perfect timing!"

"Do I, now?" Sandy asked her daughter. "Why's that?"

"Because we just came up from the ball, and I was about to call you, anyway."

Even though she was a few states away, Sandy was melting because it had been far too long since she'd heard JJ so happy about anything in her life outside work.

"Did you have some fun, Jenny?" (that was the nickname JJ had had since she was a kid; JJ was given to her when she met Spencer Reid for the first time) "Give me the highlights!"

And so JJ did.

When she was done, she remembered that Sandy had called first. "I'm sorry, mom—you were calling with something important, weren't you?"

"Well, I wanted to hear your voice, but I also want to know if you have Christmas plans yet."

JJ had to be careful at this point because she had gotten this far without mentioning Daniel or the pregnancies, and she wasn't about to trip up now.

"I plan on coming back home to see everyone, but…" her words trailed off because she suddenly didn't know how to phrase what she was thinking.

"But what?" Sandy prompted gently. "Are you bringing someone home?"

"Emily. Is that okay?"

Sandy's tone was warm and pleasant. "It's about time!"

"Wait—what?"

"We love hearing your stories about what you do, Jenny, but most of them seem to involve Emily. You have no idea how much we want to meet her."

There was a brief pause on Sandy's end of the line, and JJ even heard the shuffling of papers and then Sandy shooing away the other people.

"Okay, I rest my case now: Rex and the twins just slipped me three different notes asking me to ask you about Emily. Sinéad even wants to know Emily's favorite color is, so she can find a stocking for her when she and Caitlín go Black Friday shopping in the morning."

JJ just laughed—she'd had a feeling that her family would be happy to Emily, but if they were already this excited, she couldn't wait to see what things would be like when they found out about their relationship and the babies.

Making sure she was alone, JJ told her mother all of Emily's favorite preferences; she wanted this to be a very special Christmas for Emily.

* * *

><p>On the other side of the apartment, Elizabeth Prentiss realized that she finally had a chance to execute a certain plan of hers.<p>

"Emily," she knocked on her daughter's closed bedroom door. "Are you decent?"

"Yes, mother." came her offspring's response.

Unsurprisingly, Emily had yet to change out of her gown, or even take her hair down. Her ballet flats lay on the floor nearby and she was in the middle of her bed, sitting up with her feet tucked under her and the skirt of her gown fanned out around her. Emily's hands were even plastered to the small, unmistakable swell that was her middle, and she had a small smile on her face as she imagined a future for the little ones tucked away inside her, not ready to be bothered by the world.

Elizabeth knew that her daughter was very attractive, and that even though they'd all just come back from a night of dinner and dancing, Emily had never looked more beautiful.

In a word, Emily looked _radiant._

"Just wait until they start kicking." Elizabeth said as she sat with her daughter. "It's the best feeling in the world."

"I eagerly await that day." Emily smiled at her mother and then saw that she had a small black box in her hands. "What's that you've got?"

Elizabeth deposited the box into Emily's own hands. "Open it."

Emily did and gasped at the sight: she was looking at a polished, antique diamond ring that had been in the family for almost as long as Prentisses had been residing at The Plaza.

"Mother, this is _yours!"_

"Correction," Elizabeth closed the box and curled Emily's fingers over it. "It's _yours_ now. This is the ring your father proposed to me with, and I want you to have it. He'd want that, too."

Emily's heart suddenly started beating very fast in her chest—she loved hearing things about her dad. "Really?"

"Mhm. It was given to him by his mother, and your grandmother's mother handed it down to her." Elizabeth tapped Emily's fingers. "That ring in that box has been in our family since 1920."

"And you're giving it to me?"

Elizabeth nodded. "I already love JJ like a daughter and I know that you want to marry her when she's ready, but now that I've seen how much you two love each other, it's time I passed the family heirloom down to you. And one day, when one of your children gets married, you can pass it down to them."

"Thank you."

Elizabeth kissed her daughter's cheek. "I love you so much, little one. You take good care of your family. Treasure them."

"I will, and I treasure them already. I love you, too, mother." Emily held up the ring box. "And thank you for the ring."

"You're very welcome. Now hide it before JJ comes back; I'm going to bed."

"Okay. See you in the morning."

With one last smile to her daughter, Elizabeth left Emily to her thoughts.


	13. Daniel

All too soon, Thanksgiving vacation came to an end, and Emily and JJ had to go back home. As one last gift, Elizabeth bought them train tickets that would take them from Penn Station back to Quantico. It would be faster than driving.

Because it was early yet, not only were they able to have full access to the dining car so they could eat breakfast, but they also had a first-class private sleeper compartment. JJ had loved trains ever since she was a kid because her dad had and she was the only one of her siblings who shared the interest with him, but she'd never ridden in luxury like this before. She was fascinated.

But then her thoughts ran away with her.

"Emily," she said at length as they settled in for the hours-long ride they had ahead of them. "When do you want to get married?"

Emily felt her heart flutter at the mention of the 'm' word, but she kept it together. "Do you have a preference?"

JJ shook her head. "Other than after I'm clean of Daniel? No."

"Then what about after the kids are born? That way, we won't have to worry about ever-expanding waistlines and we can dance, too."

JJ laughed, thinking back to the ball. After they'd danced to Iris, she'd loosened up and had some real fun, dancing with Emily. To say that she hadn't enjoyed herself would be a lie.

"You really want to dance on our wedding night, huh?"

"Oh, you bet. No way I can dance like I want with a twin belly."

"Then I guess it'll be after our babies have made their world debut." JJ laughed and stopped to do the math. "So we're both at nine weeks right now, but you're carrying twins and babies don't always come on time, do they? Nine weeks now would put us at due dates in May."

"That's right," Emily nodded, also doing math. "And six months past that is November again. Winter wedding? Hell, no."

"Summer wedding? I think yes. Any months that are off-limits?"

JJ thought about it. "My mom and dad got married in April, so we're good there; she married Rex in October because they were weird like that; Wes was born in January, and Barty's birthday was the week before we went to Alabama; and the twins were born on Saint Patrick's Day."

Emily had been writing all of this down as JJ spoke. "So your family a chunk of autumn taken up, a day in January and even Saint Patrick's Day. Hey, wait…"

"What?" JJ asked, although she knew full well what it was.

"This is everyone but you and Rosaline."

JJ tried to deflect it, mostly because she was embarrassed about her birthday. "We haven't gotten to your family yet!"

"Nice try, blondie. We'll get to them later." Emily leaned down, speaking JJ's belly. "It's a real bummer that you and your siblings can't really kick yet; mommy could really use back-up to get mama talking!"

"Hey, hey, hey—no fair trying to get any of them to gang up on me!"

"Chill out, Jayje." Emily laughed and kissed her girlfriend's bump and then her cheek. "They can't even hear us yet; now tell me when your birthday is!"

"But you _know_ when it is!" JJ protested.

"Don't make me tickle you!"

JJ immediately sobered up—she was very ticklish, and Emily knew her sweet spot. "Okay, okay—I'm a Christmas Day baby!"

"That's right." Emily marked the day down in her journal. "What about Rosaline?"

"Her birthday is Independence Day, actually." JJ sighed and then looked out the window at the landscape rushing by. "She died in August, a week before she was supposed to go back to school."

Deciding that they should tall about something else, Emily put her things aside and crossed the small compartment and sat with JJ, who leaned against her.

"I don't know how Wes got his name, but my parents found the name Bartholomew in the bible."

"Bartholomew was an apostle." Emily commented. "What about you and Rosaline?"

"Rosie was named after the character in Romeo and Juliet, and I was named after Jennifer Jones Simon, my parents' favorite Old Hollywood icon."

"That's pretty cool."

"I like to think so. I don't remember anymore how the twins got their names, though."

JJ sat up suddenly and looked at Emily, serious.

"I gotta ask you something—and I know what happened last time I said this to you—but it's about Daniel."

"Okay," Emily said, trying to keep up with JJ's random subject change; sometimes, she could be even more random than Spencer. "What is it?"

"Was I wrong to not even call him after Queens, or when we went to visit Elizabeth?"

"Are you scared of him?"

"Only when he lets his drinking get the better of him."

Emily's tone was soft. "Has he ever hit you?"

"No, but he's got a hell of an Irish temper, though. That moment when he punched a hole in the wall was the closest he'd ever come because if I hadn't ducked, he would've hit me, for sure."

"Then if things really were that bad, then it's a very good thing you haven't talked since then—breathing room, and all."

"Good point… but what if something happens, and he freaks out? What if Daniel tries to get me to do something I don't want?"

"You mean like an abortion?"

JJ nodded. "Emily, it isn't like I can't ever have more kids besides this one, but I've never been pregnant before, and I didn't know until I saw the negative tests how much I wanted to be a mother. I know I'm an FBI agent and Daniel is a businessman, but he's got twelve years on me; even though he's a jerk, I can't imagine _not_ having the baby because you and I love it so much."

JJ began losing her composure, so Emily wrapped an arm around her and slipped a hand under the blond's shirt to stroke the bump because she knew JJ found her touch comforting. "We are _not_ going to let him do anything to split up our family. His loss is my gain, and there aren't enough words to say how much love I felt for this little one the _second_ I saw him or her on that screen. Even if push comes to shove, I'll help you fight to make sure that all three of our kids can be raised together."

"Thank you, Emily." JJ leaned into Emily's hold and slipped her own hand under her shirt so it could be on top of her girlfriend's. "Thank you."

* * *

><p>When they finally got back to Quantico hours later, Emily and JJ parted ways for a little while, mostly because JJ had to confront Daniel on her own.<p>

This was going to suck.

* * *

><p>JJ decided to surprise Daniel in his office because it was lunchtime, and she knew he'd be eating at his desk.<p>

He was.

"Daniel?"

The man in question looked up at the sound of his name and when he saw JJ in the doorway, he was flustered.

"What the hell?" He hissed as she closed the door and shut the blinds before turning to face him. "Where in the world have you been that you couldn't even _call?"_

"Huh." JJ laughed hollowly. "The last time we saw each other, I was running from you because you were unreasonably angry, and I have a high-traveling job as an FBI agent, but you're asking me why _I_ didn't call?"

"I was angry because you told me you thought you were pregnant; I can't have that right now!"

Daniel P. Sutherland was a tall guy—close to six feet even—and he even had a broad build that suggested Eastern European heritage somewhere in his family tree. Even in his business suit, he looked like a thug for hire, but JJ wasn't scared of him anymore.

Why? Because Grisha, who had beaten the crap out of her in New York, had been taller and stalker than Daniel, but she'd survived him. If she could survive a New York Russian gangster, she could easily survive Daniel.

"Why not?" JJ demanded. "I came here to end it with you because I just can't be with someone as angry and bad-tempted as you, but why can't you have me pregnant?"

Daniel blinked, thrown off-guard because JJ was changing gears. He just couldn't tell where she was going.

"I'm at the top of my game and if I get weighed down by something like a family or child support, then I will get way off this fast-track I'm on to make CEO, and…"

He stopped short, realizing he'd just shot himself in the foot.

"And what?" JJ just about snarled, circling in for the kill. "I dare you to finish that sentence."

Before Daniel could say anything, his hand accidentally knocked a framed photo from his desk, and it shattered a little ehen it made contact with the ground. He made to pick it up, but JJ was faster and picked it up, examining it for herself.

When she saw who was in the picture, her blood began to boil: it was Daniel in a tuxedo on a bright sunny day, standing arm-in-arm with a stunningly gorgeous redhead who was wearing the kind of wedding dress that JJ had only dreamed of before her most recent trip to New York.

JJ's hands shook with so much rage and shock that she dropped the frame this time, and it shattered more.

"YOU'RE MARRIED?" she shrieked, suddenly feeling dirty. "YOU'VE BEEN PLAYING ME THIS WHOLE TIME?"

"Come, now." Daniel knew he was toast, but he still needed her to keep her voice down. "I have, but—"

"Guess what, Daniel? I _am_ pregnant!"

"But that's impossible!" Daniel protested. "I just found out that my wife and I can't have kids; you must've slept with another guy!"

"I didn't because I don't sleep around, so don't ask me how, but there is a baby growing in my womb the we made nine weeks ago, and—"

_SLAP!_

Daniel hit JJ across the face, completely out of nowhere and it took her by such surprise that she shut down for a second. JJ's eyes filled with tears, a natural reaction to her pain, but as she processed what happened and that she couldn't take him down like she wanted to without causing serious harm to the baby, she began to actually cry. There was also a difference between getting injured by an unsub and someone you'd been intimate with.

Right at that moment, the office door banged open, causing the other two to jump a mile at the sudden intrusion, although Daniel paled when he recognized the newcomer as his wife. JJ wisely backed out of the line of fire as the pissed off redhead marched towards Daniel.

"Vera—" Daniel started.

"Don't you dare!" She snarled, angrier than JJ. "You've been cheating on me for _months, _and with more people besides her?"

The last part of that statement made JJ gasp and take another step back, this time towards the side door she knew led to a staircase leading towards the parking garage. She needed to get out as quickly as possible.

This was also when Vera actually acknowledged JJ, and the first thing she noticed besides JJ's youth was how her hands were displayed on her middle. Immediately realizing what she was protecting and that she was incredibly freaked out, Vera decided to be the bigger person and give the scared FBI agent some grace.

"I don't care what your name is, or what you do; this is your only chance to go!"

Stunned, knowing that this could have all gone a hell of a lot worse, JJ bolted.

* * *

><p>It wasn't until JJ got all the way out to the sidewalk that she remembered that she'd caught a taxi here, but she didn't even have the energy to walk to the nearest taxicab stand, which was halfway down the block, so she just plopped down on a bench behind her and quickly put on her sunglasses because she didn't want random strangers to see the injury on her face that was quickly turning into a shiner.<p>

As JJ contemplated her next move, her phone rang and she cried all over again when she saw that Spencer was calling.

"Spence? Is that really you?"

"Yes." He answered and then grew concerned when he realized she was crying. "What's wrong? Are you in trouble?"

JJ furrowed her eyebrows. "How did you know to call me? How did you know I was even back from vacation?"

Rather than recite a trivia fact related to being in sync with someone you really care about, Spencer gave her a simple answer. "I just knew. Where are you?"

JJ gave him the name of the street corner she was on, and she immediately heard the sound of Spencer grabbing his car keys and heading out of what sounded like a café. Technophobe that he was, the man was a good driver and JJ knew Spencer had a car of his own, but even still, he preferred public transportation. The fact that he had actually driven his car was a big deal.

"You're coming to get me?" She asked her friend.

"I'm literally around the block from you," he replied. "And JJ?"

"Yes?"

"You're like a big sister to me. I do anything for you."

JJ suddenly felt her heart fill up with love for her favorite boy genius, but she was too overwhelmed by the reality of what had just went down in Daniel's office to say anything.

But Spencer understood, bless him.

"Hang on, JJ. I'm getting in my car now." He told her. "Just hang on."


	14. In Which JJ Feels Better

"What happened?"

Spencer had collected JJ and they were now driving through the midday Quantico traffic because JJ hadn't given him a particular destination yet.

He knew about Daniel, though, so she had no choice but to tell him the whole truth.

"I broke up with Daniel, Spence."

"I'm sorry," was the first thing the doctor could think of to say.

"I'm not. Long story short: he got me pregnant, and he already didn't want kids, so he accused me of sleeping around and then told me how he found out recently that he can't have kids."

"Do you think he was lying?"

"No," JJ glided a hand over her middle. "So this baby is all kinds of a miracle."

"Is that why he hit you? Because you're pregant?"

Just the mention of that made the injured side of JJ's face ache. "Yeah, and on top of that, I found out that I was his mistress without even intending to be one."

Spencer was aghast. "You mean he's _married?"_

JJ shuddered. "Mhm, and come to find out, I wasn't even the only one he'd had in the past few months."

"Yikes. Did his wife show up?"

"Yes, actually, but she let me go, mostly because I'm younger than both of them by more than a decade."

"Well, that was nice of her to let you go." Spencer turned down a street that led towards JJ's and Emily's neighborhood. "Do you need anything like a ride to the hospital?"

JJ shook her head no. "Just a ride to Emily's—and thanks for this one."

Spencer smiled. "You're welcome, and off to Emily's we go."

Spencer started driving towards Emily's apartment building, and just as JJ realized that she really should call her, the woman herself called first.

"Babe, I just got back from the grocery store, and I stocked up on Cheetos for you. Have you talked to Daniel yet?"

"Yeah, and he hit me this time."

Emily gasped, immediately feeling awful for not calling sooner. "I'll come get y—"

"It's okay, Emily. Spencer has me, and we're headed to your place."

Not even questioning how their friend had intercepted her first, Emily just asked JJ an important question.

"Amante, is there anything you need?"

"Just plenty of my own clothes before I outgrow them. And my toiletries."

Emily raised an eyebrow even though JJ couldn't see her. "Moving in, huh?"

"Yeah. I'll sort out the business with my lease tomorrow."

"So noted." Emily replied. "Is there anything else you need?"

"The presence of Penelope Garcia, too."

"How's this—we'll hang up now, and I'll call her. I know she still has that spare key you gave her, and since she lives on the way to your place, I bet she'd be happy to collect your things for you. She also won't get giggly about it like Derek would."

JJ actually laughed at that. "Go ahead and call her, Em. Thanks."

"Of course, babe."

Seeing that JJ was in a lighter mood when she hung up her phone and pocketed it, Spencer brought up a certain subject, although he phrased it carefully, quite a task for a socially awkward person.

"I noticed your pregnancy awhile ago."

"Did you, now? Up until New York, _I_ didn't know I was pregnant."

"For one thing, I noticed that instead of your usual caffeinated black tea that you have every morning, you switched to the decaf lemon tea; sometimes a pregnant woman starts making those little changes before they even realize what's happening, especially if it's their first-ever pregnancy."

"Spencer Sheldon Reid, you are a _bachelor!_ Why do you know _any_ trivia about pregnant women?"

"I started doing some reading up on the subject when I noticed Emily's and Penelope's pregnancies, too."

JJ sighed. "And when was that?"

"Same time that I noticed yours." He answered cryptically as they pulled up in front of Emily's apartment and parked. "I just didn't say anything because I didn't want any of you to get Derek to kick my ass."

"Good call, buddy."

Spencer turned off the car and sat back to think. "Although…"

"Cough it up." JJ warned.

"Everybody knows that you and Emily are couple now."

JJ rolled her eyes even though Spencer couldn't see them behind her huge sunglasses. "You guys figured that out when I was in the hospital, huh?"

Spencer nodded. "Would you like me to tell you the moment when?"

JJ shook her head. "Nope, that's okay."

"Are you mad?"

JJ laughed lightly and pushed back her glasses and smiled at her friend. "Of course not, Spence. In a family as weird and as unconventional as ours, it shouldn't really be expected for secrets like these to be kept for so long, especially when we're all experts in reading and analyzing human behavior."

Spencer finally smiled, pleased and comforted by JJ's reassurance.

"You do realize what this means, right?" She asked him.

"No…?"

JJ smirked. "It means that come springtime, you'll have a batch of little ones whom you can educate about Doctor Who, but in the following year, they'll all call you 'Uncle Doctor Spencer.' You better start preparing yourself."

The reality of JJ's words hit Spencer in a rush. "Oh, my God… I'm gonna be an uncle…"

* * *

><p>On the way to Emily's apartment, JJ sent her a text informing her all of what Spencer knew, just so she'd be prepared, but what Emily wasn't emotionally prepared for was just how fast JJ's injury had turned into a real shiner.<p>

"Come here, babe."

They were still in the doorway, but Emily pulled JJ close in a hug and she felt JJ's hot tears begin to soak the front of her shirt.

"You did it—you survived him, and it's all over."

JJ just nodded and Emily turned to Spencer, who was watching them fondly. He was a man of science and rigid logic, but because of the people on his team at the BAU and all of the things they'd been through over the years, he definitely believed in love now.

"Reid?"

He looked to the dark-haired woman. "Yes, Emily?"

"Thank you for coming to JJ's rescue."

Spencer smiled. "Any time. Let me know if you need anything else, and congratulations to both of you."

They thanked him and watched him go before heading inside Emily's apartment.

"Okay, Jayje: let me put some ice on that eye." Emily told her, fetching an ice pack from the freezer and wrapping it in a dishtowel.

"No." JJ pouted.

"Would you rather it be me or Penelope—after she scolds me for not taking care of you?"

Penelope was very protective of her loved ones in general, but she loved JJ and Emily like sisters.

"Touché." She held her hand out for the ice pack. "Give me that thing."

Emily handed it to her and watched as JJ cringed when she applied the coolant to her wound, trying to figure out how to adjust it without causing herself any extra pain. Just as she helped her semi-impaired girlfriend to the couch and got her comfortable, the doorbell rang, announcing Penelope's arrival.

In addition to collecting JJ's things, she'd also gone shopping for comfort food for all three of them because she'd 'had a feeling that it would be that kind of night,' although JJ knew that she'd also foreseen that it would probably turn into a girls night because they hadn't had one in awhile.

When the others joined JJ on the couch and Penelope got a look at JJ's wound, she wrinkled her nose ever-so-slightly. "If you need to turn Derek on Daniel, he'd be happy to do it."

"That's really sweet." JJ smiled. "Maybe."

"Now that we're all here," Emily said pointedly. "Do you want to explain what happened?"

JJ did, and by the time she was finished, she was watching the other two because Emily looked like she was mentally counting to five, and Penelope was appalled.

"He hurt you because he can't handle the idea of something not going according his plan to rise to the top of his company, and he had to resort to violence?"

JJ nodded as she leaned against Emily. "Yes to all of that."

"Some people…" Penelope muttered.

"At least Vera let you go." Emily finally said.

"That's a very good thing."

"But you made it." Penelope chirped. "You are so strong, Jayje, and you survived."

"I did, and I'm just so glad that you two were are here now."

JJ wiped her tears, and that's when she noticed that Penelope was bursting at the seams because she was clearly sitting on some kind of information that was making her giddy with excitement. She decided to mess with her.

"We know that you and the rest of the team know that Emily and I are a couple now."

"Who snitched?" Penelope whined, upset that half her thunder had been stolen.

"Reid." JJ and Emily answered in unison.

"Of course." Penelope's tone was one of light dejection. "And I bet you two know mine and Derek's news—all of it?"

"Yep." confirmed Emily. "Derek called me to ask what your ring size is at the same time that you called JJ about being pregnant."

"And then you two talked to each other about it five seconds later?"

"Yeah, it went something like that." JJ put her ice pack on the coffee table and held out her hand. "Come on, PG. We want to see that ring."

Penelope Garcia wore a lot of rings to go with her bright outfits, but this engagement ring, while bright, beautiful, and just the right size, was also simple and elegant at the same time, showing off the soft, calmer side of Penelope's personality.

Emily and JJ ogled over its beauty and proceeded to congratulate their friend, cheering her up.

"Well," Penelope said in amusement. "We're all going to have a lot of fun in the future—all three of our kids will be born at the same time!"

JJ snickered and looked at Emily, who was now trying not to laugh. "Babe, do you want to tell her, or should I?"

"PG can do math; I want to see if she can figure it out."

They both looked at the brightly-dressed woman who was now thinking aloud, her excitement mounting as she went. "Wait—all three of us are pregnant, but the way that you two are talking, that must mean one of you is going to be a twin mommy?"

Emily raised her hand. "Me!"

The squeal of joy that Penelope let out was unreal, but not unfounded because it completely lifted the dour mood from the room, and before long, she and JJ and Emily were all celebrating their happiness together.


	15. Finally Free

**I wrote this chapter to a very beautiful Jemily video on YouTube set during 200, and the song is 'I'm Already There,' so please excuse the my feels right now.**

**PS: there will be smut in this chapter, and I just hope it's good because I've only written femslash smut one other time, and it wasn't even for this fandom U^_^**

* * *

><p>The next morning, JJ began fretting over her eye—the bruise was in its prime now, and it would be at least a week before it would go back to normal, but Emily rectified the situation by putting concealer on it.<p>

They got to work in an orderly and timely fashion, reaching the building lobby at the same time as Derek and Penelope, boarding the elevator with them and riding up to the BAU floor with them.

"How—"

Derek had meant to ask how the girls' night had been because Penelope wouldn't give him a single detail, but he didn't get a chance to finish the sentence because their phones all rang with the same group text, a summons from Hotch for them to meet him in his office before they went to their desks.

"You guys okay?"

This question was from Spencer because they had to pass by his desk on the way to Hotch's office, and in response, they all dumped their bags and coats on top of his files.

When they entered Hotch's office ws at his desk, but what they weren't banking on was Rossi standing beside him, almost looking expectant.

"Sir, you wanted to see us?" Derek asked Hotch.

"Anything happen over the vacation we should know about?"

Penelope's answer came out in a blurt before she could stop herself. "Derek and I got engaged on Thanksgiving, sir!"

"Baby Girl," Derek groaned as Emily and JJ snickered. "What happened to telling everyone together?"

Unfortunately, Penelope had a one-track mind. "Emily and JJ are living together, and both of them are pregnant!"

_"Penelope!"_ Emily and JJ cried in unison.

"I'm sorry, you guys!" Penelope apologized quickly. "You all know how fast I cave when I'm in this room!"

Derek just sighed and looked over at Hotch and Rossi. "Well, there it is."

Rossi looked to Hotch and handed him a ten dollar bill. "You're good, and then you're _good. _Garcia really _does_ cave quickly."

Both couples looked at their superiors in surprise.

"You _knew?" _Penelope squawked in astonishment.

"We guessed." Hotch confessed, pocketing the money. "I already knew about Emily because she told me just before we went to New York, but with the rest of you, it was mostly predictability. I also knew that Garcia would crumble quickly if Rossi was here."

Derek, Emily, and JJ looked at Penelope with raised eyebrows, and she immediately looked down and started brushing imaginary dust off her bright rainbow-themed outfit.

"Rossi reminds me a lot of my dad, and he could always catch my brothers and me in a lie, or suss out any of the secrets we kept."

JJ held her hand in the time-out position, turning to the other blond woman. "You're not an only child? How many brothers do you have?"

"There's _four_ of them: Alonso, Griffith, Lysander, and Sebastian; all Shakespeare n—"

"Hello!" Emily cried. "Not important right now!"

Hotch merely laughed. "All of you can go ahead and go; we can talk about reducing time in the field later."

The communications liaison, the tech analyst, and their profiler significant others left the office quickly, shutting the door behind them.

"Did we all just get lucky?" Penelope asked her friends.

"Yes." Emily answered quickly.

"Super, _super_ lucky." JJ added. "I'm gonna go make myself some tea. Come with me."

Penelope and Derek watched their friends go.

"What do we do now?" She asked him.

"I'll escort you to your office," Derek put a hand around his fiancée's waist and began walking with her. "But first we need to go have a chat with Reid. Kid looks like a confused puppy."

* * *

><p>Because they'd all gone on vacation right after closing the case, that meant that the whole team had paperwork to do, and because JJ had been the one undercover, this meant that there weren't going to be any new cases until even she was done.<p>

Around two o'clock, and only because her good conscious was nagging her, JJ called her landlord to see about to see about ending her lease as quickly as possible, and by the time they ended the call, she promised that she'd be out by Sunday at midnight. Today was Monday.

"JJ?"

Emily was in her doorway, looking curious.

"Boy, am I glad to see you." JJ breathed a sigh of relief. "Come on in and close the door."

Emily did so, even more curious now and sat on JJ's side of the desk. "Are you okay, JJ?"

"I just talked to my landlord, and I really didn't think it was going to be so easy, but I'll officially be living with you by midnight on Sunday."

"That's in six days." Emily remarked. "Looks like we're going to have to recruit everyone to help pack."

"You and I both know that that shouldn't be too hard." Now it was JJ's turn to be curious. "Why'd you venture over here from the bullpen?"

"Because this came for you, via messenger." Emily handed her a large important-looking manila envelope. "I signed for it since the messenger wasn't allowed to come back here, and I promised him I'd give it to you, myself."

JJ examined the return address. "It's from Hall & Yakes, the firm where Daniel works!"

"Then what are you waiting for? Open it!"

It was with trembling fingers that JJ opened the envelope and pursued through its contents. When she realized what she was looking at, she looked up at Emily in delight.

"Em, Daniel is completely and legally waiving every last one of his rights to the baby, and he's even signed all of the paperwork already. All I have to do is put down my initials and signature, and get it to his lawyers by the end of business today, and we're golden!"

Emily reached for the nearest ink pen and uncapped it, handing it to JJ. "Use this."

After a few minutes of careful reading, signing and initialing, JJ capped the pen and sat back as Emily thoughtfully gathered up the papers and promised that she would go hire a messenger when she left the office.

"Em," she leaned her head against Emily's bump, silent tears of relief cascading down her face. "I'm _free. _I'm finally _free."_

Emily stayed put and stroked JJ's hair lovingly. "Yes, you are."

"And our kids will be able to grow up together now." JJ wrapped her arms around Emily's waist, keeping her close. "Will you stay and talk to me about what our babies will be like, and how wonderful our wedding will be?"

And so Emily stayed with JJ, continuing to caress her hair and talk softly to her about plans for their future. Nothing could have made JJ happier because she finally understood what it was like to have a family of her own.

* * *

><p>Later that night, when Emily and JJ were getting ready for bed, JJ finished first and sat on the bed, dressed in only boxer shorts and a form-fitting tank top. Emily was dressed similarly, but she still marveled over JJ like it was the first time she'd ever seen that much of her skin.<p>

"Wow…"

JJ raised an eyebrow at Emily, immediately mentally undressing her. "What? You've seen me in pajamas before."

"Yeah, but never with that size belly."

"Smooth, my love." JJ self-consciously ran a hand over her middle with one hand while pulling Emily onto the bed with the other. "Come here."

Emily sat on the bed, and in an instant, JJ straddled her and kissed her on the lips, feeling her up as she went.

"Oh, JJ…" Emily breathed when they pulled apart and realized what the other woman was initiating. "If you keep going…"

"I know." JJ kissed Emily on the bridge of her nose and touched her forehead to hers. "I know, Emily, and I'm ready. I love you, and I just want you."

Her hands were lingering at the base of Emily's tank top, waiting for permission. This was her first time with a woman, but she was definitely ready because she'd never felt more loved or more comfortable with anyone else.

Emily could see all of that in her eyes. "Go ahead, Jayje."

And with that, JJ lifted Emily's tank top over her head and threw it aside, taking in, for the first time ever, the sight of a shirtless Emily.

JJ's tone was full of awe and admiration, just like Emily's had been for her. "You are so beautiful, Emily, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."

Emily became breathless when JJ trailed light kisses from her mouth, down her throat and across her collarbone before inching down slightly to the top of her cleavage. The sighs and soft moans alone she was drawing from Emily made her feel proud of herself.

"Lay back, Em." she said gently, already helping her. "There you go, there you go."

When Emily was comfortable, JJ continued to kiss her, this time planting gentle butterfly kisses on her breasts as she held her body still. Emily even arched her back and made louder noises of pleasure and appreciation when JJ found a sweet spot.

"How do you feel?" JJ purred a few minutes later, enjoying the feeling of holding Emily's warm, vibrant body in her hands.

"Alive. I feel so alive."

Confidence bolstered even more, JJ moved down so that she was on Emily's legs, allowing her lots of room to kiss her way down Emily's body before covering her distended torso in more butterfly kisses.

"Hello, my little Sprout and my little Ladybug." JJ cooed to the twins. "This is your mama, and I just love you both so much—all the way to the moon and back. I can't wait until you two and your little brother or sister growing inside my belly are all here so I can hold all of you, give you kisses, and count all of your fingers and toes. You two and baby bird are _so_ loved by me and mommy, and that love is forever and _ever."_

Looking up at the ceiling because she didn't feel like sitting up, Emily put a hand on top of JJ's. "I can feel them wiggling around, JJ. They're small, but they must know you're here."

JJ just smiled and gave the bump a few more kisses before making her way to the base of Emily's underpants.

"Come on, Emmy-cat." JJ stroked her hips coaxingly. "Come on."

Emily obliged and allowed JJ to remove her underpants, leaving her completely hot, horny, and completely naked.

"More?" JJ's tone was back to a purr.

"Yes…"

Emily was moaning again when she felt JJ's lips and tongue on the inside of her thighs, kisses intensifying the higher up she went.

The next the thing she knew, she was gasping and holding onto the sheets as JJ went to town on her, drawing things out for as long as possible before finally reducing her to a hotter and very sweaty quivering mess.

While Emily came down from what had just happened, JJ shimmied out of her own clothes and looked lovingly at Emily.

"Hey, there." She said when Emily made eye contact with her. "You back with me?"

"Mhm." Emily nodded. "Shut off the light and come cuddle."

JJ did, laying with Emily and draping a sheet over them both.

They whispered sweet nothings to each other until they fell asleep.


	16. Pennsylvania

Time passed quickly after the night Emily and JJ made love.

JJ blinked, and she was completely moved in with Emily.

She blinked again, and the team had moved on to tackle cases in Vermont, Oregon, Iowa, and North Carolina.

Yet another blink happened, and it was already December twenty-second, meaning she and Emily were officially in their second trimesters and their bumps were officially showing. They were also house-hunting, but that was another story.

The arrival of December twenty-second also meant that it was finally time to pack up JJ's hybrid and make the six-hour trek to her hometown of Avonmore, Pennsylvania, which, to Emily's dismay, was tiny.

* * *

><p>"Wow." She shook her head as JJ pointed out different things as she drove them down to Main Street. "Just how big is this place?"<p>

"You really don't want to know; it might stress your New York self out." JJ teased as they turned onto a different street, arriving at a cul-de-sac. "Here we go, good old Kissing Rock Lane."

Emily snorted. "I can't believe that's the name of your street."

"If it wasn't so damn cold," JJ parked the car in front of a big purple house at the top of the cul-de-sac. "I would take you to the actual kissing rock because it's in the woods behind our property."

Emily chuckled, but then let out a small moan as she felt the twins wiggle and do flips inside her. She should have been used to it, but her body was older than JJ's and because she was carrying two babies, she was on hyperdrive all the time. That also meant the uncomfortableness that came with pregnancy was happening earlier.

"You okay?"

Emily rubbed a hand over her middle. "I can't remember if it's because we haven't eaten in awhile, or if because your mom, Rex, your brothers, or your sisters don't know yet that the family will be expanding."

JJ turned off the car and pocketed the keys before turning to Emily and rubbing her thigh. "Deep breaths, Emily and one thing at a time. When we go inside, I can guarantee that mom will be cooking lunch."

"What about the luggage?"

"Don't worry, babe." JJ was already unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the door. "Mom will make Rex or the boys get it. Come on."

* * *

><p>"Mom?"<p>

JJ and Emily entered the house and put their things away in the front hall, but nobody had to greet them.

"Mom? Emily and I are here!"

"In the kitchen, Jenny!" came the response, although they only took two steps before the sound of a small girl's high-pitched squeals of delight reached their ears and JJ bent down and scooped her pint-sized niece and set her on her hip.

This little girl, dressed in an adorable holiday outfit, was JJ's niece, Ming. According to Emily's knowledge, Ming was adopted from China when she was two weeks old by JJ's brother Bartholomew and his husband, Caleb.

"Hey, pretty girl!" JJ gave her a cuddle. "Where are your daddies?"

"They went with Sinéad and Caitlín to get the tree, but I'm here with Nana!"

"Okay, that's good to know. Where's Avo?"

"At the st—" their little friend shut down suddenly when she noticed Emily and went shy, burying her face in JJ's neck.

"It's okay, silly." JJ gave her niece a gentle back rub. "Ming, that's Emily, and she's really nice."

The little girl gave Emily a second glance, waving quickly before looking back at JJ, sly. "She's _way_ pretty."

"I think so, too," JJ nuzzled noses with Ming. "And you know what, baby angel? Emily is my heart."

Ming was deeply impressed by this and blew Emily a kiss of approval before wiggling out of JJ's arms and dashed away.

"What a cutie pie." Emily smiled and then looked around as JJ linked their arms together and led her to the kitchen. "Where's Wesley and Faith? They have Agnes, right?"

"I don't know to the first question, but yes, and she's two years old to the second question."

"Jenny! Come here!"

They'd arrived at the large, open kitchen and Sandy was cooking something on the stove that smelled like spaghetti and meatballs. She turned down the heat on the stove before wiping her hands on a dishtowel and hugging JJ as she approached.

"Oh, sweet pea, I'm so happy to see you! Did you and Emily have a good drive?"

"Yes, we did."

JJ took her mother by the hand and led her to Emily, who had been watching shyly.

"Mom, this Emily Prentiss. She's my girlfriend."

"It's wonderful to meet you." Emily greeted the older woman.

Instead of accepting Emily's proffered hand for a handshake, she hugged her.

"Hello, dear." She said as Emily regained her footing. "It's lovely to finally meet you, and you may call me Sandy."

"Okay, Sandy. Thanks for having me here."

"You're family now, so you're welcome any time… so long as you don't go breaking my baby's heart—"

_"Mom!"_ JJ hissed as Emily just laughed and said, "I assure you, I have no intention of ever doing that."

JJ, on the other hand, was beet red; her mom always knew how to embarrass her. "Now that we're done with that—"

Sandy already looked like an older version of JJ, so when she raised an eyebrow at her, it was just weird.

"And _what?" _She sassed. "Would you rather me let Rex take her out for a pint and a night of leprechaun tossing?"

"Hel—I mean, heck! Heck, no!" JJ quickly corrected her swear when she remembered there was a child in the room._ "No_ leprechaun tossing!"

"What is _leprechaun tossing?"_ Emily asked cautiously.

"You don't want to know unless you don't have a choice, trust me." Sandy handed her a tray laden down with sandwiches, a pitcher of juice, and three plastic drinking cups. "These are for you, Ming, and Jenny, but Jenny will be along in a minute."

Realizing that Sandy was using a pointed tone, Emily obliged and went to go join Ming, who was thrilled by the food and her company.

JJ leaned against the counter next to the stove and watched her mother move from the food on the stove to the other counter and started slicing a loaf of hot french bread.

"So she took care of you in New York?" Sandy asked her daughter.

"Mhm. So did her mom."

Sandy smiled and then looked at her daughter again, studying her. "Something seems different about you, Jenny. What is it?"

JJ immediately deflected the question. "Where are Wes and Faith and Agnes?"

"They'll be flying in from Billings tomorrow, and you're avoiding the question!"

JJ decided to be cheeky. "Am I?"

Sandy rolled her eyes and stuffed a piece of bread in JJ's mouth. "Yes, little girl. You are, and you know it."

Full mouth and all, JJ snickered and went to join Emily and Ming at the kitchen table, where they were having a serious conversation about baking cookies.

* * *

><p>Not long after JJ's and Emily's arrival, Rex came back from the grocery store and while Sandy put the groceries away, JJ introduced Emily to her stepfather. Emily was immediately charmed by the Irishman and just like that, she knew they were going to be good friends.<p>

Bartholomew, Caleb, Sinéad, and Caitlín showed up not long after that, the Christmas tree in tow. All four of them were equally delighted and intrigued by Emily, welcoming her into the family. Even before dinner time came, Emily knew this was all she'd ever wanted as a kid.

After lunch, and just as JJ had predicted earlier, Sandy got Bartholomew to get their luggage from the car and bring it to JJ's room, although it was in a place that Emily wasn't expecting.

"You live in the attic?" Emily asked when they were alone.

"Oh, don't say it like that." JJ laughed as she opened the curtains and turn on the overhead light before she sat with Emily on the bed. "When I was little, I shared a room with Rosaline until we got sick of each other and my parents turned the attic into a fully functioning bedroom for me because everywhere else was full."

"I do like your bedroom, Jayje." Emily said as she leaned back on the bed and let out a deep breath. "I do."

When stepping into the room and taking in the warm green tones, one forgot they were in an attic because it was very, carpeted, and contained a bed, bookshelf, and a desk, all of which had served JJ well over the years. And like with Emily's childhood room in New York, different mementos of JJ's were displayed throughout the room, like school awards and diplomas, but Emily didn't seem to notice because she had both hands on her swollen middle, tracing shapes on it, trying to calm the twins.

"Are they being obnoxious again?" JJ asked sympathetically.

Emily nodded. "Your children are being very obnoxious."

"Oh, so they're _mine_ right now, huh?"

"You bet."

Emily sat up, holding one hand to her own pregnant bulge and the other to JJ's.

"Babe, we gotta tell everybody. It's not like we have a lot of baggy clothes we can keep hiding behind… especially me."

JJ gave a stubborn sigh and held Emily's hand in place. "I guess we can't keep waiting for the Billings Jaraeus; they won't be here until tomorrow."

"And I overheard your mom telling Rex that there will be wine with dinner. How's it gonna look if we both turn it down?"

JJ realized Emily had a point because even their BAU family knew that the communications liaison and her profiler both preferred wine before beer.

"Okay, okay." JJ stood and tugged on her girlfriend's hand. "Everybody loves you, anyway. Let's go."

* * *

><p>"Alright, you two, what's going on?"<p>

It was dinnertime, and the family was gathered around the large dining table eating a meal of American goulash, mashed potatoes, and bread rolls. It was all really good, and JJ and Emily noticed that not all of the adults at the table had wine, which made them feel better.

Rex, however, had noticed the same thing the Sandy had earlier: JJ and Emily were sitting on some kind of secret, and it was a big one, otherwise JJ would have waited even longer to bring Emily home.

"Seriously, though," Rex pressed in his thick Irish accent, causing everyone to look at JJ and Emily. "We can tell you two are sitting on something."

JJ took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "We do have a very special announcement, actually."

"Did you two run off and get married before coming here?" Caitlín blurted as her twin shushed her.

"Not quite." JJ chuckled. "We would rather not get into the specifics of how it happened at the moment, but Emily and I are both pregnant, so there will be three new family members in May!"

The scene around them was comical: everybody, even Ming, looked torn between cheering and trying to figure out JJ's train of logic about numbers. At the opposite end of the table, it clicked for Sandy first, and she was practically trembling with joy.

"Are you saying that both of you are in the family way, but that one of you is carrying _twins?"_

"Yes," JJ confirmed, grinning like a happy idiot. "And Emily is the one carrying two!"

Sandy immediately turned to her husband, who was beside her and said amongst their family's cheers, "Rex, we're getting _three_ new grandbabies! Can you believe it?"

The next thing JJ and Emily knew, they were both getting hugged and congratulated by the older couple, but when JJ looked over at Emily, she saw that she was enjoying a fatherly hug from Rex that she'd never truly known before.

Just the look of happiness in Emily's eyes let JJ know that her girl was truly home.

* * *

><p>Later, after tree decorating, everybody settled in for the night to do different things.<p>

Bartholomew, Caleb, and Rex decided to play Scrabble, and they were getting enthusiastic about because they had a Scrabble dictionary at their disposal.

In the kitchen, Sinéad and Caitlín were baking up a storm and Ming almost joined them, but Emily distracted her with an early Christmas present in the form of a Hello Kitty-themed press-on nail kit. JJ knew it was an attempt on Emily's part to make friends with Ming, and that she'd be doing the same with Agnes the following day when her family came, but Ming was more than happy to get to know her new auntie.

Meanwhile, Sandy had decided to knit and when she saw JJ was doing the same thing, she sat with her.

"I haven't heard about any of your knitting projects in awhile, Jenny." Sandy remarked as she began her knitting project. "Any particular reason why?"

One thing JJ liked, even after all these years, was talking to her mother about her different knitting projects.

"It's complicated," was all JJ could manage as the eye on the now-healed side of her face twitch like a phantom pain.

"You sure?" Sandy tried to reach over to see what had caused JJ's twitch. "Something else is off."

JJ pushed her mother's hand away, and focused on her own project, a nearly-completed purple tam. "I'm not ready to share yet, but I can tell you that if it wasn't for things happening between Emily and me when and how they did, I would've stayed back in Quantico this year."

"She saved you from something, didn't she?"

"She actually did." JJ said. "It's hard to describe."

Sandy realized she was testing her daughter's nerves and quickly deviated from the topic. "What's the age difference between you two?"

"Eight years, just like it was with you and dad." JJ's tone soft, even though Emily was on the other side of the room, giving all of her attention to Ming. "Em has miscarried more than once before now, and she was desperate for babies."

"The twins are in-vitro, then?"

JJ nodded. "They're her miracle babies."

"You're _my_ miracle baby, Jenny. Always have been, always will be." (One of the reasons JJ had been born so many years post-Rosaline was because her mother had experienced a few miscarriages beforehand) "I won't say anything about it, but if Emily ever has a bad day about missing those babies, you tell her to call me."

"I will, mom, thanks." JJ felt a small weight lift off her shoulders and smiled again. "I've been thinking about something since Emily and I came today."

"Enlighten me."

"It's been Emily and her mom her entire life now, and Emily literally can't remember the last time she had a proper Christmas like the ones we have because she was a wee thing when the last one happened, but now… she's _happy."_

Sandy smiled and gave JJ's shoulder a gentle squeeze of comfort when she saw her get emotional. "I'm happy that she's happy, and I'm even happier that you found someone who completes you like she does. All any mother wants for her babies is to be happy, and now, all of mine—old and new alike—are just that."

JJ felt her heart turn to goo because no matter how many times her mother drove her up the wall, she still had a happy heart that was full of love, despite all of the hardships she'd been through over the years. It really shouldn't have surprised JJ that she'd accepted Emily into the family so fast.

"Auntie Jenny?"

JJ righted herself when she realized that Ming had bounded over and was tapping her on the knee.

"Auntie Jenny, Auntie Emily and I finished what we were doing, and now I was wondering something!"

"Oh, really?" JJ said to her niece. "Ask away."

"Will you come and look at books with us?"

JJ gathered up her knitting tools and looked to her mother.

"Go ahead and go, Jenny." she told her.

JJ followed Ming to other side of the room to the big padded window seat by the back door where Emily was waiting with blankets and a stack of picture books.

From her spot, Sandy watched the trio get comfortable before they got lost in their own world.

Sandy smiled to herself and continued to work on the baby blanket she was making, the first of three.

She'd listened to JJ fret for years that she'd never have anyone to love or kids to mother, but now she and Emily were deeply in love, and in the spring, would have three darling babies to adore, kiss, and cuddle.

Sandy couldn't be any happier for JJ and Emily.


	17. No Place Like Home

Hours later, everyone was winding down, and the house was getting quiet.

Bartholomew, Caleb, and Ming had gone back home to their house, which was a few blocks away, while Sinéad and Caitlín retired to their basement bedroom. Rex and Sandy prepped for the arrival of Wesley and his family, and JJ and Emily were in the attic, watching old home videos.

The videos were the JJ and Rosaline of a 'bygone era,' as JJ had put it, but Emily loved it because it was the closest she'd come thus far to meeting Rosaline, and as it turned out, she had adored JJ, always playing with her, teaching her to read, painting her nails, and of course, doing her hair. The bond was extremely precious, and now Emily understood why JJ didn't talk about Rosaline all that often; she wanted to preserve the memories and not let people bad-talk her sister for the last thing she'd ever done.

For JJ, though, the videos began to stir up some nostalgia, as she realized that it could only be cured by a conversation with one person.

* * *

><p>"Jayje," Emily said cautiously when she saw the other woman looking distant. "Are you having second thoughts about us taking the twins to lunch tomorrow?"<p>

"No, not at all, and I'm looking forward to it."

JJ stood and stretched before putting a robe on over her pajamas and tying her hair into a loose ponytail.

"I just need to talk to my mom; if I don't tell her about Daniel now, I don't know when I'll be able to."

"I can't blame you for that."

JJ patted Emily on the shoulder. "You go ahead and keeping watching Rosaline and me. Don't wait up if you get sleepy."

"Got it."

JJ left Emily to her own devices and went downstairs to look for her mother.

Sandy was in the den, staring into the fireplace as she continued to work on the baby blanket, but when she saw JJ looking like a sad puppy, she invited her over.

"Hey, my little night bird." She said as JJ joined her. "What's going on?

JJ could never lie to her mother about her feelings for long, so became emotional quickly, like a switch had been flipped; big fat puppy dog tears fell silently down her face faster than could stop them. "I don't know know, mom. It's not about Emily at all, because I love her more than I can say…it's more about a choice I made."

"You can tell me anything, Jennifer." Sandy said seriously, reaching over and wiping her daughter's tears. "I won't judge you."

"Three months ago, I met a guy in a bar named Daniel, and one thing led to another…"

"He's the father of your baby, isn't he?"

JJ nodded in confirmation. "A week before New York, we were in Alabama and before that, I thought I was pregnant, but the tests I took were both negative; of course we know that those tests were false negatives. Daniel didn't find out until after I got back, and he wasn't too receptive to even the idea of a baby."

Sandy held a hand over her heart. "Jenny, did he hit you?"

"He tried, but he ended up throwing his hand through my wall because I ducked and high-tailed it to Emily's."

"Does she live by you?"

"Around the block. She took care of me."

"Bless her heart." Sandy smiled. "How long between that night and New York?"

"Only a few hours."

"Since you're with Emily," Sandy said seriously. "That must mean Daniel is out of the picture; what happened there?"

"He completely signed away all of his rights and things in regards to the baby because he really doesn't want anything to do with it."

"But…?"

JJ took steadying breaths to focus herself and get serious. She hadn't seen her mother in longer than she cared to admit, and it felt good to pour her heart out to her.

"It's okay." Sandy soothed. "What happened? Did you mess up?"

"I don't know, mom, but I was in hot water for a bit." JJ blew her nose on the tissues her mother offered her and kept going. "I went to go see Daniel when we got back to Quantico after Thanksgiving because I just couldn't wait any longer to tell him about the baby and to end it with him."

"Because it was getting unhealthy, wasn't it?"

"It was headed that way." JJ admitted. "I went to his office downtown and surprised him."

Sandy became apprehensive because she had a feeling she knew what was coming next. "Jenny, did he go bonkers on you, like he did after Alabama?"

"More than that… he, uh, he hit me."

"Oh, my God." Sandy felt her heart bottom out. "Jenny, really?"

"Yeah, and it bruised so hard that it gave me a terrible shiner that's only just healed. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, mom."

"Why are you apologizing for getting hurt? Nothing of what you're telling me here is your fault."

JJ thought about how she would wake up in cold sweats as she recounted her last encounter with Daniel, even in her slumber. "That's what Emily tells me when I feel guilty about it."

"Jennifer Amaryllis Mae, what do you feel _guilty_ about?"

"If I'd ducked sooner—or at all—he wouldn't have hit me, and I wouldn't have developed a nervous twitch that kicks in whenever someone comes near the right side of my face." JJ rubbed her eyes, really not wanting to cry so she could just get through this. "That wasn't even all of what happened when I went to see him."

"Sweet Jesus, Jenny." Sandy felt like she was on a roller coaster. "What could have possibly happened next?"

"His wife showed up."

"E-excuse me?" Sandy stuttered.

"Her name is Vera, and she walked right in and she dropped a hell of a bombshell."

"Which was _what? _Is this Vera pregnant, too?"

JJ shook her head. "No, and half of the reason Daniel went postal is because apparently, he can't have kids. The bombshell that Vera dropped is that she knew Daniel was cheating, but also that he was doing it with more people than the two of us."

JJ shuddered.

"Mom, I was a mistress without even realizing it, and it made me feel dirty for awhile."

"Only awhile?"

JJ smiled faintly. "Emily saved me the moment I met her, but she saved me even more after that night. And you know what?"

"Do tell."

"Vera saw how scared I was and she had mercy on me and let me go. Daniel sent the papers the next day, and I haven't heard from him since. I'm glad."

"So am I, and it sounds like you had to fight hard to get this far."

"Believe me, I did, but Emily and our friends have really helped me."

Sandy kissed her daughter's temple. "You are so strong, Jennifer, and I am so thankful and proud that you and the baby survived all of this. Your dad and Rosaline would be, too."

JJ's bottom lip trembled at the mention of her father and her sister. "I miss them so much, and I'm sad they aren't here to meet my family."

"So am I, sweet pea, but we can take comfort in knowing that daddy's body is no longer hurting him like it was, and that Rosie and her soul are finally free."

"That's true." JJ watched as her mother started her knitting project again. "Mom, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Are you happy with how your life has turned out?"

"Yes." She answered without missing a beat. "I am delighted with how my life has turned out, hardships and all. What makes you ask? Are you and Emily getting married?"

"We want to, but not everything is hammered out yet, and you and Rex have to meet Elizabeth."

"Nothing a train trip to New York City can't cure. Just say the word, and we'll come."

JJ smiled more and then sighed. "Everything with Emily and me has been happening on such a whirlwind, but neither of us have ever been so happy in our entire lives before. There aren't even any words to describe how over the moon we are that we're both pregnant, or that we're getting three babies."

"And there aren't any words to describe the joys of being a parent."

JJ shifted a little in her spot as she felt her baby wiggle. "Which one of us kids kicked you the most?"

"Definitely you, no question. Wesley and Bartholomew were polite about it, and Rosaline was a late bloomer, but when she did kick me, she was gentle. You? You kicked and hiccuped like the sky was falling."

"Was it worth it, the grief I put you through before I was even born?"

Again, Sandy didn't miss a beat. "Every kick, hiccup, late night craving, and stretch mark you gave me was completely worth it, and if I had to go back on time to do it again, I would."

Because JJ was young yet in life and her mother had had all of her biological children at young ages, she knew she could get away with asking the next question, something that she'd always wondered.

"Did you and Rex want any kids together after you married?"

"You're the first one to ask, but goodness yes, we really did and we actually tried, but nothing happened. At least Ming hangs out here all the time and tags along with me to the library. She only calls me Nana because that's my title, but I know she thinks of me as a mother on account of how much I spoil her."

JJ crinkled her nose at the thought of life with step-siblings young enough to be mistaken for her own children. "I'm sure it would have been fun, but I can't imagine having siblings younger than Sinéad and Caitlín."

"It _would_ have been fun, but we decided to be content with the babies we do have."

"Babies?" JJ scoffed. "We're all grown!"

"It doesn't matter that both of your brothers are married, or that you and Emily are everything but married, or even that the twins occasionally ponder that part of their futures now—all of you will always be my babies… and speaking of the twins…"

JJ decided to play innocent. "What about them?"

"They said something about going out to lunch with you and Emily tomorrow?"

"Mhm," was the only response JJ gave to that particular inquiry.

"Well," Sandy said knowingly. "They're itching to get out of Avonmore, just as badly as you did before you figured out the soccer angle. Something tells me that you and Emily will get lucky, with whatever your ulterior motive is towards your sisters."

JJ opened her mouth to say something, but instead just gave a dejected sigh as she felt her offspring wiggle around even more, like it was actually pissed off that it didn't have complete kicking ability.

"I know it'll be a few more weeks before I can feel any kicks, but baby bird is already driving me up the wall!" JJ exposed the unmistakable swell that was her middle and touched a hand to it. "I'm already worried about what it'll be like when there are actual kicks to feel!"

Sandy's eyes were drawn to JJ's bump and she actually put her knitting back in its basket. "Jenny, may I…?"

"Oh, of course."

JJ scooted closer and placed her mother's hand over her middle. "As I said, there's nothing to really feel yet, but my skin has never been this taut before, so that's a sign of progress."

Sandy glided a hand over to her daughter's bump, gently pressing down in experimentation. "For sure, but I can definitely feel the little one. It's just a matter of time, and you'll understand what I mean about the kicking—it can be incredibly annoying at times, but it's the best feeling that a mother can ever experience."

JJ smiled, pleased that she could share this whole moment with her mother, although it was derailed quickly when her stomach rumbled loudly.

"And the moment is gone." JJ sighed, fixing her clothes.

Her mother stood and beckoned to her. "Come on, sweet pea. Let me make you a snack."

"I can do it." JJ half-protested, automatically getting to her feet.

"Yeah, but I still trump you because I'm your mama; you'll understand one day."

JJ followed Sandy to the kitchen, anyway.

True, JJ loved her life back home in Quantico and that she caught bad guys for a living, but in the end, there was no place like home.


	18. Conversations

Just like they'd planned, lunchtime the following day saw Emily and JJ treating Sinéad and Caitlín to lunch at the diner. Although Emily had interacted with the twins at the purple house on Kissing Rock Lane and liked them a great deal, this was the first time she was seeing them outside of that setting, for who they really were.

And what the twins were was complete opposites of each other.

Sinéad's turquoise dress, black lace tights, white fur-lined boots, neon turquoise nails, long bright purple hair, and rainbow cat-eyed glasses with a bow on one corner all told the world that she was the eccentric one, whereas everything about Caitlín showed that she was the calm one.

For starters, while Sinéad's hair was done up in an elaborate hairstyle, and wasn't even a natural color, Caitlín's long red hair was in a braid running down her back and her whole outfit (a blouse and sweater, skirt, leggings, headband and snow boots) was made up of a particular color scheme, but all of the colors were calming and solid. Even her glasses an ordinary solid color.

Opposites though Sinéad and Caitlín were, they were still best friends and loved being together.

And once Emily got talking to them, she really understood why they reminded JJ of Penelope and Spencer.

* * *

><p>"What's that you've got, Caitlín?"<p>

The redhead glanced at the plain hardcover book she was putting away in her shoulder bag and answered with enthusiasm. "It's an extremely fascinating paper on advanced quantum mechanics written by a doctor who lectured at Quantico last month. I missed the lecture, but I sent in for the published version. He said he was sorry that I missed it, so he sent it for free and even signed it."

"Wow." Emily remarked. "That was really nice of him to do."

Sinéad rolled her eyes before Caitlín could respond and said, "Emily, it's been a month, and she's read that paper four times."

"Really, now?"

"Uh-huh. Caitlín's even corresponding with the author because she fancies him."

This caught JJ's attention and she raised an eyebrow at Caitlín. "You fancy him, _and_ he lectured at Quantico? Do Emily and I need to track him down to see if he's good enough to go out with you?"

"Oh my God, Jenny!" Caitlín was blushing spectacularly now. "Could you _not?"_

Emily decided to join in on pushing Caitlín's buttons. "Quantico is even smaller than Avonmore, and your sister and I have connections everywhere at the training academy. What's the name of this doctor friend of yours?"

"Spencer Reid."

Emily let out a small snort of amusement and immediately turned to JJ, who had chosen at that moment to take a drink of water. She nearly spat it out at the mention of their colleague's name because just an hour before, she and Emily had been joking around about fixing Spencer and Caitlín up together.

"What?" The twins asked in unison.

"Spencer is one of our colleagues, actually." Emily explained. "And now I get why he's been so obsessed with writing letters lately—they're all going to Caitlín. Spencer still believes in snail mail because he's a technophobe."

"And, he's been like a little brother to me for years." JJ tacked on thoughtfully. "Now that I think about it, he's only about three years older than you two…"

By now, Sinéad was looking incredibly amused while poor Caitlín just wanted to melt into her seat. Luckily, the waitress brought their food, and that bought them all some time to calm down.

"Are we correct in thinking," Sinéad said after a few minutes. "That you two asked us here for a special reason, other than that it's Emily's first time to Avonmore?"

"Damn, they're perceptive, Jayje." Emily said to her girlfriend.

"I told you: they're both really smart."

Sensing that Emily was feeling a little nervous, JJ gave her girlfriend's leg a comforting rub as she turned to look at her sisters.

"Yes, actually—we heard about how the last family you nannied for moved out of the country, and this was Emily's idea, but we were wondering if you two would be interested in moving to Quantico to be live-in nannies for our babies when they're born in May."

Sinéad and Caitlín were astonished because they hadn't been expecting this kind of thing at all.

Emily decided to get her say in. "We will understand if you say no, but we are looking for houses right now because our place is just too small for a whole family, but if you said yes, we could look at places with you in mind, too."

Finally, Sinéad spoke. "How much would you charge us for rent?"

"Honey," JJ said gently. "You're family. Why would we charge rent from you and Caitlín when we're already going to pay you two to look after the kids when we work and go out of town?"

"We loved the Bakers, but they charged us because they lived the next town over."

"Well, we don't charge you for anything like room and board," Emily assured her. "But if you guys are good at grocery shopping, you're more than welcome to fill the fridge if it looks empty."

Sinéad and Caitlín sat back to ruminate on everything that had just been said, and had a conversation with each other, using just their eyes before turning back to give their final answer.

"We're in." Sinéad said simply.

Emily and JJ were surprised about how fast the answer had come because they'd been anticipating that the twins would've told them some time before they went back to Virginia, but not right that instant.

"Are you sure?" Emily asked apprehensively. "Don't you need to think it through any further?"

"We're sure." This was from Caitlín.

"But what about your friends, or mom and Rex?" JJ inquired.

"We don't really have any friends, Jenny, and the ones we do have got out of this town years ago. As for mom and dad, they'll find out, but it isn't like they'll try to keep us, especially when we'd only be a train ride away."

Sinéad spoke up, using a businesslike tone. "We can come whenever you need us, and we can be packed in a week or less. Really. Just say the word."

"Maybe you two can come for a visit if we get a case in town soon." JJ so as thoughtfully as she thought about how they tended to get local cases this time of year. "You guys could even meet our friends, and Caitlín isn't the only one of you two that would meet their match amongst our posse."

Sinéad raised an eyebrow. "Caitlín's forté is math and science, and I excel with computers and have a strong online presence in the blogosphere, although I am by no means a crazy hacker. Who could match me that you know?"

"Try Penelope Garcia."

Although Emily and JJ knew Penelope had a strong online precence, they didn't know until then how far it reached until that moment because Sinéad gasped in surprise and said nothing, instead suddenly becoming really interested in her pizza.

Caitlín filled in the blanks. "I have my idol, and she has hers: Penelope runs a gaming/tech blog that Sinéad is really fond of, and I happen to know that they correspond, too."

"Then it sounds like moving to Virginia is the perfect thing for both of you because not only is Spencer part of our team, but so is Penelope." (The twins both gasped at JJ's words but said nothing) "And Penelope is pregnant and engaged, so who knows? Maybe they'll need nannies for their baby, too."

Just the possibility of that sent Sinéad into a shocked silence where like her twin, she was already thinking of how much better things were going to be once they moved to Virginia.

Even JJ and Emily knew that this was going a step in the right direction for their family, and they couldn't wait until they were all under one roof together.

* * *

><p>When they got back to the house, it was quite full, as Wesley and his family had finally arrived while they were out, and also because Bartholomew, Caleb, and Ming arrived to hang out for the day moments before JJ and her squad came back from the diner.<p>

Sinéad and Caitlín were able to slip into the fray, but Sandy and Rex intercepted JJ and Emily before they had a chance.

"What did you two talk about with the twins when you were out with them just now?" Rex wanted to know. "They haven't looked this happy in ages."

"We offered them a nannying job for the babies." JJ said honestly.

Sandy raised her eyebrows. "As in, live with you two in Virginia?"

"Yes." Emily answered in equal honestly.

"They already agreed to take the job, didn't they?"

"We weren't expecting it, but yes. Now JJ and I need to find a proper-sized house or brownstone, and our goal is to have that settled by mid-February at the most."

"February, huh?" Rex echoed. "I can't say I'm surprised that Sinéad and Caitlín were so fast-paced because they've always been like that, and they've been dying to get out of this town for years."

JJ nodded in understanding and then turned to her mother to see what she thought, but her expression was almost blank, and JJ couldn't tell if she was happy, sad, or a little of both.

"Mom, are you okay?" She asked her.

"I'm fine, Jenny. It's just suddenly hit me that all of my babies are grown up now. Promise me that you and Emily will take care of the twins when they go to you?"

"Of course, mom."

Sandy finally gave JJ and Emily a real smile and held their hands in hers. "I love you both so much. Now go one and be with everyone—we'll be along in awhile."

* * *

><p>As Emily came to find out, Wesley and his wife, the lovely Faith, were as nice as the rest of the family, and their little girl Agnes was a total doll. They all took to Emily quickly, and Wesley and Faith were overjoyed to find out about the babies.<p>

JJ had warned Emily beforehand that although Agnes was a darling child and very polite, she could be shy. Something was different about Agnes than usual, though, because after about twenty minutes, the two-year-old climbed up onto the couch and sat with Emily, curious about her.

"Hi!" She said boldly.

"Hey, there." Emily caressed Agnes' face. "Do you know my name, sweet Agnes?"

The little girl thought about it, and as she did, Emily studied her. Although Agnes had fair skin, she didn't have the trademark Jaraeu blue eyes and blond hair, having inherited dark brown hair and big chocolate orbs for eyes from her mother. She was even wearing a blue dress, and blue was Emily's favorite color. In a way, Emily was being reminded of herself, and not for the first time, she wondered if she was carrying a daughter or two in her womb.

"Auntie Emmy?" Agnes asked hopefully after a moment.

"Good job, Agnes!" Emily praised, scooping the little one into her lap while still trying to get used to the fact that she really was an auntie now. "Yes, I am your auntie!"

Agnes leaned forward and touched her small chubby hands to Emily's middle, whose shape, now that she didn't have to hide it, was completely apparent.

"Babies? Mama say babies!"

"Yep," Emily held Angnes' hands down so she could feel more than the material of her shirt. "Your little baby cousins are growing in there."

Delighted, Agnes proceeded to blow kisses to Emily's belly, showering it with love. Her affection turned Emily to butter and caused her to remember something.

"You know," Emily tapped Agnes on the nose and reached for her get-to-know-you present that she was keeping nearby. "I heard that you like books and animals. Is that right?"

Agnes nodded eagerly, her eyes wide in anticipation. "Yes!"

"Well, you're in luck, Agnes!" Emily showed her the present, a kid-friendly animal encyclopedia. "This is a book about animals!"

Agnes cheered and then tilted her head to the side as she posed an inquiry. "Read it me, please?"

"Of course, baby girl. Come closer."

Agnes immediately snuggled up with Emily, keeping a hand plastered to the baby bump, her way of including the babies. Emily found a blanket and cast it over both of them, and when they were comfortable, they proceeded to look through the book together.

Agnes fell asleep after ten minutes, but even still, Emily continued to hold her and kiss her as she told her about all of the different animals she'd seen during her travels over the years. Emily loved children but she didn't get to hold them often, so for now, she was taking every opportunity she could.

On the other side of the room, closer to the dining area, JJ stood watching the scene fondly, although she wasn't alone: Wesley, Bartholomew, Sinéad, and Caitlín were watching, too. Emily hadn't even seen any of them so far.

JJ turned to face her brothers and sisters. "What do you guys think?"

"She's a treasure." Sinéad said.

"But we already knew that." Caitlín winked.

"Jenny," Wesley addressed JJ. "Does Emily treat you right?"

"Oh, yes. She would never ever dream of raising a hand to me, or anything like that. Emily and our kids," JJ touched a hand to the underside of her middle, stroking it with her thumb when she felt the baby wiggle. "Are the best things that have ever happened to me."

She looked over to Bartholomew, the only one of them who hadn't said anything yet. "Barty? Do you have anything you want to add?"

Bartholomew gave JJ a cheeky grin. "I was just thinking about which one of us gets to 'put her through the wringer,' in a friendly way, of course… that is, if we don't all four do it together."

JJ breathed a sigh of relief; the approval of her her whole family about Emily was very important to her. "I'm so glad you approve of her, too."

"Of course, Jenjen." Bartholomew put an arm around JJ's shoulder and smiled at her. "Only the best for our sister, and Emily over there is definitely the best."

JJ grinned at the description. "She sure is."

"Hey," Caitlín spoke softly so she really wouldn't be overheard. "You two found each other and chose each other, and it really is a match made in heaven, plus, she makes you really happy. How could we not love that? I can't wait until she's officially part of the family."

Neither can I, JJ thought. Neither can I.


	19. Christmas Eve

**Don't worry—we'll be back in Virginia soon :)**

* * *

><p>The day before JJ's birthday—and consequently, Christmas Day—was an interesting one.<p>

In accordance to an old family tradition that Sandy had started long ago with her first husband, everyone spent the whole day making meat pies, quiche, and other such delectables and then boxed them up so they could bring them to the police station, the firehouse, and the hospital as treats for everyone who had to work the Christmas shifts.

* * *

><p>Because their family was quite big now, everybody had split up into groups.<p>

JJ went with Caleb and Faith to the police station, while Sinéad and Caitlín went with Sandy and Rex to the firehouse, although their presence was mostly to make sure that Ming and Agnes didn't get into trouble. That let Emily with Wesley and Bartholomew.

She liked JJ's brothers well enough, but something about their shifty behavior told her that they had something up their sleeves. She just couldn't tell what it was.

* * *

><p>"Hey," Emily said suddenly when she realized that their path home had changed. "This isn't the way to the house."<p>

"You're quite perceptive, considering that you've never been to Avonmore," Bartholomew remarked as he parked the car in front of one of the storefronts on Main Street. "And we are making a pit stop first."

"Where are we?"

Wesley turned to face Emily while Bartholomew parked the car and turned it off. "We're at the bakery to pick up Jenny's birthday cake for tomorrow, but we came a little early because Barty and I want to have a chat with you."

Emily raised her eyebrows. "Because you're her big brothers and she brought me home?"

"Because you're the first she's _ever_ brought home."

Using that as a final say, Wesley and Bartholomew exited the car first. To show that they were gentlemen, they collectively helped Emily from the car and helped her navigate across the sidewalk to the bakery.

As it was Christmas Eve, the bakery was devoid of customers because everyone was at home with their families, meaning that the trio had the front room to themselves as they sat at one of the tables together, with both brothers facing Emily.

"What would you like to know?" The agent asked them. "I'm an open book."

Bartholomew practically went at her like a freight train. "Are your mother and father still around?"

"It's just been my mom and I since I was three because my dad and my stepdad are both hone. So are my brother and sisters." (Emily saw right away that Wesley and Bartholomew were quite surprised by that, so she tacked on a positive note for good measure) "My mother and I are close, though, and we stayed with her at her place in Manhattan over Thanksgiving."

"Do your mother and Jenny get along?"

"One hundred percent. They adore each other."

Wesley finally got in a question of his own. "Does your mother know that you love women?"

Emily nodded, not even bothered by the course of the questions being asked of her because she had almost been expecting it. "If you want to get technical, I'm bisexual. My mother knows, and she's never had a problem with it."

"I only ask because not only are the first Jenny has brought home, but you're also the first woman she's ever been with…"

Wesley's words trailed off because he between him, his bother, and now JJ and Emily, he was the only straight one. He just didn't know the proper way to ask the next question.

Emily saw right through him, though. "You're wondering if JJ's the first woman I've ever been with?"

Even Bartholomew nodded in unison with his brother at that.

"JJ isn't the first woman I've ever been with, no, but she's the first one I've ever been able to imagine a future with. Nothing has ever felt this right or this real, as it does when I'm with her."

Wesley felt satisfied by her answer, so Bartholomew spoke up. "We know that Jenny was in 'hot water' around November, but we won't pry her for details about it; the one thing we want to know in relation to that, though, is do you love the baby that she's carrying?"

Emily smiled fondly, as she always did when she thought of her children. "I love that darling baby with my whole heart, and I'm really looking forward to being its mother, just as much as JJ loves the twins and is already planning things for them, too."

"Do you want to marry Jenny?" The boys asked Emily in unison.

"More than anything, and," Emily dug her phone out of her pocket and flipped through a few pictures as she spoke before finding what she was looking for and showing it to Wesley and Bartholomew. "JJ doesn't know, but I even have a ring. It's been in my family since 1920, and my mother gave it to me during our visit."

Wesley and Bartholomew admired the picture, quite impressed with the ring.

"Anything else you want to know?" Emily asked as she put her phone back.

"Yes." Wesley said seriously. "Have either of you decided who is going to propose to who?"

"No, but I do hope I can beat her to the punch because I already have an idea of how to ask her."

This was true, but Emily was also nervous and hoping to quell her nerves in a chat with Sandy and Rex before going back to Quantico. For the sake of her newfound friendship with JJ's brothers, though, Emily concealed that and chose to just be amused as she thought of her proposal idea.

Both Wesley and Bartholomew saw the mischievous look in their future sister-in-law's eyes and left it at that, deciding that any other interrogating could be done by their parents.

And it was just as well because by the time their conversation was done, the cake order was ready.

* * *

><p>When they returned home, Emily found JJ in the back hallway, near the basement door. She was admiring a Thomas Kinkade painting of a cozy cottage scene at twilight. It had hung in that spot since she was a kid, and she loved looking at it.<p>

When she saw Emily, though, she smiled and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "You were out for awhile with Wes and Barty; they didn't try to scare you off, did they?"

Emily laughed. "Nah. They were just being big brothers and vetting me. Nothing I can't handle."

"They were vetting you, huh? What did you guys talk about?"

"That is between me and them." Emily winked and changed the subject. "How is baby bird?"

JJ glided a hand over bump. "The kid has turned me into a bottomless pit and is a total wiggle-worm, but he just calmed down because he can hear mommy. How are the twi—"

JJ's words ended in a soft moan of pleasure and surprise because Emily had decided to kiss her, pinning her against the wall as she did so. They both knew anyone could walk in on them, but that was half the fun.

Emily kissed JJ with such intensity that it reminded them of their first kiss, and when they pulled apart, they were both a little breathless.

"Wow." JJ panted, putting her hands on Emily's waist for balance as regained her she senses. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that about?"

"No real reason, other than that I'm just so thankful that we found each other and that we're already coming together as a family, even though it hasn't been formed in the most conventional or traditional of ways. You bring me joy, JJ—so much joy that I thought I'd never get to have."

JJ felt her heart turn to mush because those were exact thoughts about their situation and about Emily.

"Auntie Jenny? Auntie Emmy?"

Their bubble was burst when they saw Ming and Agnes before them, standing hand-in-hand and looking positively adorable in their matching holiday dresses.

"Hi, babies." JJ greeted her nieces. "What's up?"

"Nana and Avo say it's time for dinner," Ming said importantly. "And after that, we can open stockings!"

Pleased that she'd remembered everything she'd been instructed to say, Ming hurried back towards the kitchen with Agnes in tow.

"Stockings, huh?" Emily asked as they followed the girls.

"Yep." JJ nodded. "We open stockings on Christmas Eve; always have. When do you open yours?"

"I've never had a stocking before."

* * *

><p>After dinner, everybody gathered in the living room for stockings. Emily was genuinely surprised when Sandy sat next to her and deposited a very full cobalt blue stocking with her name on it into her lap.<p>

"For me?" Emily asked.

"Well, it _does_ have your name on it." Sandy tapped Emily playfully on the nose. "Do you like it?"

Emily nodded, running her fingers over the soft material. "I love it."

"The twins picked it and Rex and I filled it for you."

"Thank you." Emily smiled. "I've just never had a stocking before."

"No?"

"My mother never really done this kind of thing when I was a kid, and it's just been me and her for as long as I can remember." Emily sighed shakily, still smiling. "I love the stocking, and I love being here so much. It's just a lot to take in, all at once."

Sandy knew about Emily's family history because of what JJ had told her, so she kissed her on the temple in a motherly sort of way and spoke gently to her. "It's okay, sweetheart. You're new to this whole family thing, but there will always be a stocking for you here. Lots of love, too."

"Everything okay, over here?"

JJ had returned from a trip to bathroom and was very interested to know what her mother and her girlfriend were talking about.

"Yep." Emily reassured her. "Your mother was just cheering me up."

JJ sat on Emily's other side. "She's good at that."

Seeing that JJ and Emily were going to be fine, Sandy made a quiet exit to go open her own stocking.

When Emily looked around the room, she saw that everybody was opening their own stockings already, so she dug into hers and was quite amused by what she found inside: a few different kinds of candy, a handwritten 'welcome to the family' note from Sandy and Rex, a book of word puzzles and a new pen, warm socks, a new pair of aviator shades and even a 'minimergency' kit (both of which JJ had in her stocking, too), and curiously, an instant-win lotto ticket.

"A lotto ticket?" Emily asked when JJ also had one.

"It's a little something Rex brought along when he and the twins joined the family." JJ explained without looking up as she worked on her own. "Last year, I won two hundred bucks."

Enticed by the possibility of such a number, Emily decided to have some fun and live in the moment.

She ended up winning one hundred and twenty dollars, the most out of all them.

* * *

><p>Later on, Emily took refuge in Rex's office to call her mother and tell her about her day, and so as not to give anyone the slip, the whole phone call had been in Italian. She didn't even think of closing the door.<p>

Little did she know that Sandy and Rex had understood her.

* * *

><p>"Sweet girl," Sandy said as she and Rex entered the room. "Has Jenny told you how we met?"<p>

Emily shook her head, suddenly all-too aware that she was alone with her girlfriend's parents and that they were literally shutting the door behind them and sitting down with her for a conversation.

"She hasn't, no."

"Rex and I met when Jenny, Wes, and Barty sent me on a birthday trip to Rome. I already speak Italian because my grandmother brought me up and she was from Naples. Rex was already there promoting one of his books, and he grew up learning Italian as a requirement in school, at every level, the way some schools in the states do that with Spanish."

Emily held her hands in a time-out position. "Does anyone else in the family know Italian?"

"Rosaline did, but the boys took German, and Jenny went for French in addition to the Spanish that she was already taking when she decided to join the FBI."

The brunette turned to Rex. "What about Caitlín and Sinéad?"

"They already know Italian because they continued taking it after we moved here from Dublin."

Emily almost felt like her brain was melting. "So the twins would have understood everything I said to my mother, but you two did? Is that's what's happening?"

The answer came in unison. "Yes."

Emily was quite glad now that JJ was in the den with the twins and Ming and Agnes watching Christmas movies. This was going to be a fun talk.

"Sandy's told me all that Jenny's been through in the last few months," Rex began. "But she's also told me about how much you love Jenny and how happy you've made her."

Emily beamed, happy to hear that.

"You know, I've known Jenny for almost ten years now, and I don't think I've ever seen her so happy as she is when she's with you."

"Really?"

Rex nodded. "Absolutely, and it makes me all kinds of happy to see her like this."

Emily spoke her next words with complete sincerity. "Meeting JJ and falling in love with her has really been the best the best thing that's ever happened to me. I can't imagine the rest of my life without her or the babies."

"That's beautiful," Sandy smiled. "And Emily?"

"Yes?"

"Jenny's dad, Bruce? He would have really loved you. Rosaline, too."

Emily's bottom lip wobbled, even through her smile, but she took steadying breaths to maintain her composure. But then again, it had suddenly occurred to her that she had the approval and love of the whole family… it was more than she'd expected out of this trip at all.

"We have talked about getting married," Emily forced herself to speak. "And we know that we want to do it after the babies come, but what JJ doesn't know is that I already have a ring hidden away at home, just for her."

Sandy and Rex were taken aback—although it was in a good way because this was a happy thing—so Emily showed them the same picture she'd shown Wesley and Bartholomew, explaining its history and how and when Elizabeth had passed it on to her.

"I love JJ, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her and the kids. I've always known that family is important, but I didn't know until I met her that family is absolutely everything. Being here, and accepted into this family has shown me that even more."

Sandy leaned forward, touching Emily's knee. "And we really couldn't imagine anyone else for our Jenny."

"We were going to tell you this tonight, anyway," Rex added. "But we are officially giving you our blessing to marry Jenny."

Emily finally let the tears fall, quiet at first, and then real ones came when they told her it was okay to cry.

In the blink of an eye, Sandy and Rex were on either side of her, comforting her the way that parents do.

After that, Emily just sank into their embrace because for the first time in decades, she was being comforted by _two_ parents who loved her.

She'd forgotten what that felt like until now.


	20. Christmas Day

**Don't worry, I'm still alive :) I just had another project that demanded my attention!**

* * *

><p>Blessedly, all three of the Prentiss-Jareau babies decided to give their mothers a break on Christmas Day with the morning sickness, allowing Emily to kiss JJ good morning… all over her body.<p>

"Oh, Emily." JJ sighed in bliss as she opened her eyes and arched her back. "I like that."

"Good." Emily approved as she worked her way up from JJ's calf to her thighs and higher. "Think of this as one of your birthday presents, hm?"

Sensitive because of her pregnancy hormones and very turned on by Emily's horniness, JJ was gasping quickly, especially when Emily leaned her against the headboard, eased her out of her underwear and began eating her out.

"Emmy-cat, we can't: everyone is home."

Emily paused and looked at JJ salaciously and laced their fingers together. "Then you'll have to be quiet because I am not about to leave you hanging. Squeeze my hands."

JJ realized that she was being challenged, so as Emily resumed pleasuring her, she did indeed squeeze Emily's hands every time she wanted to cry out or moan. By the time the blond orgasmed, Emily's hands were very sore, but did she complain?

Of course not. She accepted the soreness like a badge of honor.

"Merry Christmas, and of course, happy birthday." Emily pressed gentle butterfly kisses on JJ's baby bump as she recovered. "I love you."

* * *

><p>Once the pair was more themselves and suitable for interaction with everyone else, they put their dressing robes on over their pajamas and went down to the living room.<p>

Unsurprisingly, Ming and Agnes were already awake and studying the array of presents under the Christmas tree, trying to figure out which ones were for them.

When they saw their aunties, they abandoned that activity and settled with them on the couch, wishing JJ a happy birthday and taking turns explaining Christmas to the babies.

Both JJ and Emily loved hanging out with their nieces, and the little girls knew it, so Ming, who was cuddling with JJ, decided to be brave and ask a question she'd been pondering.

"Auntie Jenny, do you know if the baby in your tummy is a boy or a girl?"

"No, but I wish I did." JJ confessed. "Why do you ask?"

"I have a name idea, but it's for a girl."

Emily looked up little Agnes, who had fallen asleep in her arms because it wasn't quite eight o'clock yet. "One of the babies in my tummy could be a girl, Ming. Will you tell _me_ the name?"

Caving because she didn't have the willpower to say no to her new auntie, Ming answered promptly. "It's Grace. Do you like it?"

"Oh, absolutely." Emily told her honestly and turned to JJ. "Babe, do you the name Grace?"

Truthfully, JJ had always told herself that she would to give that name to her firstborn daughter.

"I love it." She said honestly. "It's definitely on my list of good names to use."

Quite pleased to hear this, Ming rearranged herself so that she was wedged comfortably between her aunties but leaning mostly against Emily so she could talk to the babies. Emily felt like she was in heaven, so she held her nieces close, loving them and reveling in the moment.

Thinking quickly, JJ snapped a picture of the trio with her phone, although she and Emily were both left wondering for the dozenth time if two of their own babies were girls.

* * *

><p>Though Emily knew how dearly loved she was by JJ's family now, she was still surprised to find Christmas presents with her name on them. However, there was one package in particular that really surprised her.<p>

"Emily? Jenny?"

Rex and Sandy had pulled footstools up to them where they sat on the couch, and they had a UPS package with them.

"Did everyone else go start making breakfast?" JJ asked when she realized that it was just her, her parents, Emily, and then twins left in the room. "Please tell me someone started on the biscuits and gravy!"

"Calm down, dearheart; I heard Caleb and Faith say that they were going to start on that." Rex laughed. "We just have one last present here. It arrived the same day as you two, although it isn't from us—it's from Emily's mother."

Emily started to ask how her mother had gotten the address to the house on Kissing Rock Lane, but when she saw the cheeky look on JJ's face, that was enough of an answer for her.

"Okay, never mind."

Sandy smiled in amusement. "Elizabeth sent along a note saying that there are things inside for the four of us, as well as Sinéad and Caitlín."

Hearing their names, the twins joined them from the other side of the room.

"Emily's mom sent presents for us all?" Caitlín inquired.

"So it would appear." Emily answered. "Mother's love language has always been acts of service, and it's quite up her alley to do something like this. Why don't we see what she sent?"

Sandy opened the package and they found parcels with their names on them. There was a first edition copy of 1984 for Emily, a set of high-end knitting needles and several skeins of brightly-colored yarn for JJ, a gift basket of hard-to-come-by Irish tea and biscuits for Sandy and Rex, and for the twins, new messenger backpacks to carry their laptops and iPads around in. Elizabeth had known what Emily would like, but as far as the rest of the presents were concerned, she'd gathered ideas through subtle information-gathering she'd conducted over Thanksgiving. Everybody was happy, so she'd really hit the jackpot. Emily would be sure to call her about it later.

"Hey," JJ said suddenly, extracting an envelope from the package with her parents' names on it. "There's one more thing."

She handed the envelope to her mother who took it and emptied the contents into her lap. The envelope contained a letter of some sort, as well as what appeared to be event tickets wrapped in a note.

Sandy read the note and turned to the others, explaining, "Elizabeth wants to meet Rex, the twins, and myself; there's going to be a production of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ at Georgetown University next month and she'll already be there for a conference, but she wants us together and tickets for us all. She's even paying for hotel accommodations and transportation."

"Wow," was all Emily could say because she knew that her mother only went of her way to spoil people she really liked, and the last person she'd done that with had been JJ.

The blond in question said, "If we're in town, we will definitely be there. No way would we miss that."

Sandy, Rex, and the twins were simply touched by present because they all really loved Shakespeare, and chance like this to see one of the most famous Shakespearean plays at a place like Georgetown University was quite a gift, indeed.

"What's that other letter?" JJ asked, breaking the sudden silence that had fallen upon them.

"It's a letter from Elizabeth to Rex and me." Sandy answered, standing and beckoning to her husband to follow her. "You all should go check on breakfast."

"Okay, mom." JJ could see that her mother needed a moment, but she became concerned. "You okay?"

Sandy nodded and smiled at her. "I've never been better, Jennifer. We'll come eat in awhile."

The older couple exited the room together, and JJ, Sinéad, and Caitlín stared after them in surprise. Emily was perplexed by that.

"What?" She asked her companions.

"Mom never calls me by my actual name unless she's in a sappy mood like now," JJ explained. "Or unless it's important."

"I wouldn't read too much into it, babe." Emily said, thinking of her heart-to-heart with Sandy and Rex. "Really."

JJ took Emily at her word and settled for finally going to see about breakfast.

* * *

><p>As the day wore on, everybody lounged around, playing board games and telling Emily stories of Christmases past. Emily loved hearing all these things about her new family, and she noticed that while JJ participated, too, she spent most of the day being lost in thought.<p>

JJ left the hubbub for awhile, and Emily found her up in their bedroom on the bed, knitting what looked like the beginnings of a newborn baby hat. Knowing JJ was a sucker for massages, Emily sat with her on the bed and began massaging her feet.

"You've been pretty quiet today, Jayje. Your birthday hasn't been a bummer, has it?"

JJ shook her head and laughed, curling her left foot when Emily hit the arch. "Not in the least, not with my whole family under one roof. I've just been thinking."

"About…?"

"What if Sinéad and Caitlín came back with us when we left here after New Year's?"

Emily saw where JJ was going with that question, as well as the practicality of it, and she was on board immediately. "For good, or just a visit, since the play is the second week in January?"

JJ shrugged, giving Emily her other foot when she motioned for it. "I'd say let's leave it up to them—they're adults, after all. I bet we could ask them tonight, and they'd have their things packed and their affairs in order before we cut out for Quantico. They even have their own car."

"Your sisters are impressive."

"When they want to get things done, they team up and get accomplished in a very timely and efficient manner."

Emily put JJ's foot in her lap for a minute as she thought things through. "It's not like they'll throw parties when we leave, and our place can fit them if they share a room. Plus, they could come with us to look for houses…"

"The girls are also really flexible in general," JJ offered. "And I'm sure they'd be even more flexible if it meant getting out of Avonmore faster."

"What about your parents, though? When the girls go, that'll make them official empty nesters."

"That, it would, but I know them. They'll be sad to see them go, but they wouldn't ever try to keep them here."

"Then it's been settled." Emily decided. "If they want to, Sinéad and Caitlín are going to come home with us. Let's go find them."

JJ immediately set her knitting project aside and left the room with Emily.

Eventually, they located the twins in their basement bedroom and found Sinéad on her bed, blogging with her laptop while Caitlín was at her desk, writing to Spencer. When they saw their visitors, they paused in their activities and invited them to come sit on their couch as they sat on bean bags, facing them.

"What's up?" Caitlín asked. "Do you guys want something?"

"Funny you should put it that way," Emily said. "Because we want to ask you a question."

"And what would that be?" They asked in unison.

JJ took point in asking the actual question. "We have a proposition for you two: how would you two like to leave here with us after the holiday, maybe even for good?"

Unsurprisingly, the twins' answer was instantaneous and in unison. "We would love to."


End file.
